Nottinghamshire’s Stuart Broad has been named in the 12-man England Test squad to face Pakistan at Lord’s starting on Thursday 24 May.
The Trent Bridge paceman is set to play his 117th match for his country and currently stands on 410 wickets and just shy of 3,000 runs.
Broad has warmed up for the three-match series with 14 wickets in three Specsavers County Championship matches at an average of 13.42, including 4-41 in Notts’ most recent four-day game against Lancashire.
The squad, captained by Joe Root, sees a first call-up for Somerset spinner Dom Bess, who has played 16 first-class matches.
The 20-year-old off-spinner impressed in the Champion County match for the MCC against Essex in March where he took eight wickets in the match and scored a valuable century in defeating the champions in Barbados.
Lancashire batsman Jos Buttler also returns to the Test squad for the first time since December 2016 when he played in the fifth Test against India in Chennai.
“Dom Bess has made an excellent start to his first-class career and impressed everyone with his performances for Somerset.”
National Selector Ed Smith, said: “Dom Bess has made an excellent start to his first-class career. He has impressed everyone with his performances for Somerset and when he has been given opportunities with England representative teams.
“With Jack Leach missing out due to injury, the selection panel wanted to invest opportunity in a young spin bowler. Dom’s strong form, character and all-round abilities presented a compelling case for selection.
“Jos Buttler is an outstanding talent, who is already a central part of England’s white ball teams. The selection panel feels that this is the perfect moment to reintroduce Jos to Test cricket, where he has already enjoyed some success, including a stint playing as a specialist batsman at number seven.
“Jos is playing with great confidence and flair, and he will bring unique qualities to the Test team.”
Meanwhile, England have awarded incremental contracts to Surrey’s Tom Curran and Middlesex’s Dawid Malan for their performances during the 2017-18 contract year.
England Test squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire, c), Jimmy Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Dom Bess (Somerset), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Stoneman (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
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