Mumbai:England have gone with Ollie Pope ahead of Jonny Bairstow in their 12-man squad for the opening Ashes Test against Australia at the Gabba, starting on December 8.With England deciding to leave out their spearhead James Anderson on the basis of workload management, Chris Woakes has been picked in the 12.
Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood are the other seam bowling options with Jack Leach turning out to be the frontline spinner.Meanwhile, Joe Root, the captain, will be the mainstay of the batting unit with the rest of the batting line-up comprising HaseebHameed, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Dawid Malan.
Jos Buttler will be the wicketkeeper. The all-rounder Ben Stokes, who took an indefinite break during the England summer this year, has made a return to the set-up.England last won a Test at the Gabba back in November 1986 when they beat the hosts by seven wickets on the back of Sir Ian Botham’s game-changing 138.