England have included uncapped Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson in their 14-man squad for the second Test against Pakistan, which is set to begin on Thursday, August 13, at The Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
Robinson, 26, trained with the England squad during the West Indies series and has looked high on confidence during the ongoing Bob Willis Trophy, picking eight wickets for Hampshire. It, however, remains to be seen whether he will be included in the starting XI, which solely depends on how England approach the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on Sunday, revealed that star all-rounder, Ben Stokes, will miss the remainder of the #raisethebat series against Pakistan due to family reasons, which left a huge void in the team.
"Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson is added to the squad for the first time replacing Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes, who left the bio-secure bubble after the first Test for family reasons," read an official statement from the board.
Robinson has been a regular fixture in English domestic cricket, having accumulated 244 wickets in 57 First-class games at an average of 21.86. In the last two years alone - 2018 and 2019 - he registered 137 wickets. However, with James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood all in the setup, it will be interesting to see where England can fit Robinson in the squad.
Meanwhile, Zak Crawley is expected to be back in the starting XI, which could possibly mean a change in order, with captain Joe Root moving back to number four, followed by Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler.
England, after struggling for much of the first Test, registered a three-wicket win over Pakistan on the back of Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes' match-winning 139 runs partnership. They take on Azhar Ali's men in the second Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton starting from August 13.
England Squad for 2nd Test:
Joe Root (Captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @englandcricket
