Chris Woakes comes in for Ben Stokes, who faces a court hearing
Monday 6 August 2018 09:55, UK
England have dropped Dawid Malan for the second Test against India at Lord's and called up Surrey's Ollie Pope in his place.
Malan's place was considered to be under threat after scores of 8 and 20 in England's thrilling 31-run victory in the first Test at Edgbaston and Pope could now be in line for a Test debut.
The selectors have also brought back Chris Woakes into the squad in place of Ben Stokes, who will miss the second instalment of the five-Test series to attend a court hearing this week in Bristol.
Pope has impressed for Surrey as they lead the County Championship Division One and the 20-year-old scored 50 not out in the Lions' victory over India A last month.
"Ollie Pope has made an exceptional start to his first class career," national selector Ed Smith said.
The selection panel believe that Ollie's performances and character suggest he is well suited to international cricket.
"He has reached a 1000 first class runs in just 15 matches and is the first division's stand-out batsman this season with 684 runs at 85.
"The selection panel believe that Ollie's performances and character suggest he is well suited to international cricket."
Malan made his Test debut against South Africa last summer at the Oval but the Middlesex captain has averaged 27.84 in his first 15 Tests, while he dropped catching chances in Birmingham.
Woakes, who has battled with right quad and knee injuries, has sufficiently recovered to take his place after being eased back by Warwickshire.
"Dawid Malan drops out of the squad for Lord's. Dawid has not found his best rhythm this season, and it may be that his game is better suited to overseas conditions," Smith added.
"Ben Stokes is unavailable, but Chris Woakes, with some extra matches and practices under his belt, can now return to the England squad after injury."
England squad for second Test: Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes
Watch England's second Test against India at Lord's, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday.
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