England announces12-man squad for 1st Test against Australia

England announced a 12-man squad of the first Test of the Ashes series against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Wednesday. Joe Root will lead the side which has some big-ticket absentees, including pacer James Anderson and middle-order batter Jonny Bairstow.  James Anderson will be rested for the 1st Test as a precautionary measure, considering the day-night Test that immediately follows the series opener, it seems England have preferred Ollie Pope over Jonny Bairstow, who struggled against India at home earlier this year. Dawid Malan has also been included in the 12-man squad and he might get an opportunity in the XI along with Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed who re expected to open. 

Meanwhile, England will be tempted to play left-arm spinner Jack Leach at the Gabba but if Ben Stokes is not 100 percent, then they might play an additional pacer to manage the workload of their premier all-rounder, who is returning to competitive action after having missed the India series at home and the second half of Indian Premier League and the T20 World Cup. Here is the team-Joe Root (Captain), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. England, who have not won at the Gabba since the 1986/87 series, are bidding to win the Ashes in Australia for the first time since claiming a 3-1 victory in the 2010/11 edition.