England name first Test squad of the summer: Crawley out; Gay, Robinson, Ahmed in

Emilio Gay has been in good form for Durham to begin the County Championship season. Stu Forster/Getty Images Share articleEngland will begin their attempt to pick up the pieces from their Ashes debacle with a combination of new and old faces when they face New Zealand next month. There are three uncapped players in an enlarged squad of 15 for the first Test at Lord’s on June 4 in Durham batter Emilio Gay, Hampshire fast bowler Sonny Baker and Somerset’s batter-keeper James Rew. Otherwise, England have retained faith in almost all of the players who crashed to a 4-1 defeat in Australia last winter — apart from Zak Crawley, whose long and often controversial run at the top of the order has come to an end. The fate of Crawley, who averages just 31 from 64 Tests, was sealed by a wretched start to the County Championship season with Kent and, at 28, he faces a long road back if he is ever to play international cricket again. Ollie Robinson gains another chance after convincing England that his fitness and attitude problems are a thing of the past, while Rehan Ahmed is included as one of two spinners with Shoaib Bashir, who has been selected despite being overlooked for the Ashes. There is also a return for Surrey seamer Matt Fisher, who played one Test in the Caribbean in 2022, and is selected ahead of Sam Cook and Matthew Potts. Jofra Archer was not considered as he is currently playing in the Indian Premier League and is a more likely candidate for the second Test at the Oval on June 17 after building up his red-ball work. Gay, 26, looks to have won the battle to replace Crawley at the top of the order ahead of his Durham team-mate Ben McKinney and past openers in Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed. He will join Ben Duckett in an all-left-handed opening partnership. The former Northants batter has scored 552 runs at 92 for Durham this season and has impressed for the England Lions, including during the winter tour of Australia. He also has experience with Italy because of his mother’s heritage — in cricket, playing for an ‘associate’ country does not preclude being selected for a nation one — and turned down the chance last year to represent West Indies — his father’s family are from Grenada. The other option for England is to open the batting with Rew who, at 22, has scored 12 first-class centuries and is considered by many to be the best batter in the country outside of the England team. But when promoted to the top of the order by Somerset last week the elder Rew, whose younger brother Thomas is the England Under-19 captain, made just four and nought and is more likely to be the spare batter in this squad. It is also unlikely that Baker, who had a chastening white-ball debut for England last year, will play at Lord’s but he is one of the quickest young seamers in the domestic game and his chance looks sure to come later in a summer that also includes a Test series against Pakistan. Ahmed, who has made ten Test appearances, all overseas, is the more likely of the two spinners to play in early-season conditions, even though he too is at the IPL and his leg-spin is a work in progress. Batting that has already brought him five first-class centuries means he would strengthen the lower order at eight while offering spin. Rob Key, the England managing director, said: “We’ve selected a squad that we believe has a really exciting blend of proven international quality, strong county form and players with huge potential to develop at Test level. “Emilio, James and Sonny have all earned their opportunities through consistent performances and have impressed us not only with their talent, but with the way they’ve gone about their cricket in high-pressure situations.” England also confirmed that Marcus North, the Durham director of cricket, is their new national selector. The former Australia all-rounder helped pick the first Test squad. England have stayed true to their ‘Bazball’ instincts while also keeping their word in paying more attention to early-season County Championship achievement in the wake of their awful winter in Australia. It is a squad that covers all bases and will probably satisfy those who wanted recognition for the county game while also nodding towards the adventurous. The selections of Rew and Baker stand out as they are the most exciting young batter and fast bowler in the country, even though neither are likely to play at Lord’s, while Ahmed is another pick out of the Brendon McCullum playbook. But in selecting Gay, England have gone for the in-form county option to replace Crawley, even though he has scored all his runs for Durham at No. 3 this season. The previous England thinking under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes would probably have looked at his 21-year-old Durham colleague Ben McKinney, who is an opener very much in the attacking mould and has impressed in the England pathways. McKinney’s time will come but in Gay England have an impressive performer who has made it clear that he was not interested in playing for West Indies when they came calling last year because of his father’s Caribbean heritage. It has always been England – and Italy – for Gay and he deserves his chance after making the move from Northants to the north east to further his Test ambitions. Also deserving of his chance is Robinson, who remains one of the best bowlers in the country and has demonstrated this season that he is a fitter and more mature cricketer than when he was jettisoned by England after a poor tour of India at the start of 2024. Robinson looks likely to play alongside Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson and could even take the new ball alongside his captain, with Stokes experimenting as an opening bowler on his return to the Championship with Durham last week. If so, Jamie Smith, who looks sure to keep the gloves ahead of Rew, will probably go in at six with Stokes at seven to ease his workload, Ahmed at eight and then the three seamers. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms