Mark Stoneman gets England call up for West Indies series; Keaton Jennings dropped

Courtesy: Reuters

London: Mark Stoneman is set to become Alastair Cook`s latest England opening partner after he was selected to make his debut in next week`s day/night first Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston.

Surrey batsman Stoneman, 30, was included in a 13-man squad announced Thursday from which the struggling Keaton Jennings was dropped.

The Durham opener only averaged 15.87 in eight innings during England`s 3-1 series win over his native South Africa, which concluded with a 177-run victory in the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Monday.

Now Surrey batsman Stoneman, a former Durham team-mate of Jennings, is in line to become Cook`s 12th partner at the top of the order in five years since the retirement of former captain Andrew Strauss.

Stoneman has scored 1,000 runs in first-class cricket this season, including a highest score of 197, while averaging 58.82 with three centuries.

By replacing Jennings, Stoneman will form another all-left-handed combination at the top of England`s order with Cook in a match that starts at Birmingham`s Edgbaston ground on Thursday, July 17.

Meanwhile Hampshire leg-spinner Mason Crane, who last year became the first overseas player to appear for Australia`s New South Wales in more than 30 years, has been called into a Test squad for the first time"Selectors would like to offer their congratulations to Mark Stoneman and Mason Crane who thoroughly deserve their opportunity in the squad," said England selector James Whitaker in an England and Wales Cricket Board statement.

Sheer weight of runs appears to have seen Stoneman force his way in ahead of Haseeb Hameed, who made his Test debut in India last year but has managed just one first-class score of more than fifty so far this season.

Middle-order batsman Dawid Malan has been retained, with the selectors resisting the temptation to recall the in-form Alex Hales.

Meanwhile fit again pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes has replaced Steven Finn in the squad for a match on his Warwickshire home ground that will be the first day/night Test ever staged in England.

Woakes, who could be in a straight contest with Toby Roland-Jones for the position of third seamer, has fully recovered from a side strain sustained during the Champions Trophy in June that has kept him out of action for much of this season.

But he made a return to the County Championship earlier this week, where he took five wickets in the match and scored 53 in the second innings as Warwickshire beat Middlesex at Lord`s.

"He was impressive in his return game at Lord`s this week and if selected in the final line-up, he will be relishing the prospect of playing on his home ground," said Whitaker of Woakes.

With England not, as yet, resting James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the two senior pacemen could now gain some floodlit Test experience ahead of the Ashes day/nighter in Adelaide in December

The three-match campaign against the West Indies, which also features fixtures at Headingley and Lord`s, is England`s last Test series before they travel to Australia.

Joe Root will look to carry on from where he left off after his first Test series as England captain ended in a resounding victory.

England squad for the first Test against the West Indies:

Alastair Cook (Essex), Mark Stoneman (Surrey), Tom Westley (Essex), Joe Root (Yorkshire, capt), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Ben Stokes (Durham), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mason Crane (Hampshire)

Fixtures

Aug 17-21: England v West Indies, 1st Test, Edgbaston

Aug 25-29: England v West Indies, 2nd Test, Headingley

Sep 07-11: England v West Indies, 3rd Test, Lord`s