Jonathan Trott will be involved in a senior England squad for the first time in 16 months after being named among the touring party for next month’s three-Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean.
The 33-year-old Warwickshire batsman features among a 16-man squad, led by the returning Test captain Alastair Cook, with the Durham fast bowler Mark Wood and Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth and Adil Rashid the uncapped players.
Trott has not been involved in the senior setup since leaving the 2013-14 Ashes tour after the first Test with a stress-related illness but scored five centuries for his county in the second half of last season and compiled an unbeaten double century while captaining the England Lions on their January tour of South Africa.
Now, with the intention to shore up English cricket following a chastening World Cup campaign – and gain revenge for a 1-0 defeat suffered on their last trip to the Caribbean in 2009 – the selectors have once more turned to the experienced right-hander, with the first Test starting in Antigua on 13 April.
“This series marks the start of a busy period of Test cricket for the England team and I am sure that Alastair and the players will all be keen to build on the success they enjoyed last summer against India,” said the national selector James Whitaker.
“Jonathan Trott is a player of proven international pedigree and we are delighted to welcome him back into the squad. Adam, Adil and Mark are all players who have performed impressively over the last 12 months and they will now have an opportunity to push for a regular place in the Test side’s starting lineup.”
The explosive Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes has earned a recall after missing out on the World Cup squad, with his county team-mate Wood – a promising fast bowler who hopes his injury problems are behind him – also included. The 25-year-old Wood has played just 23 first-class games but earned rave reviews for the Lions this winter. Chris Woakes has been ruled out with a foot injury.
There is a spot for the fast bowler Liam Plunkett, who took 19 wickets in four Tests last summer before an ankle problem ended his summer. His Yorkshire team-mate Adam Lyth will compete for an opener’s berth, after top-scoring in their title-winning County Championship campaign last season, with the all-rounder Rashid and James Tredwell. Moeen Ali could join the squad at a later date as he nurses an abdominal problem.
Lyth’s inclusion comes at the expense of Sam Robson, who scored a maiden Test century against Sri Lanka last May but struggled in the 3-1 series win over India, and his county opening partner Alex Lees. The left-hander, who scored 1,489 runs last season, could face competition from Trott, who has opened with Cook once before in a Test in Bangladesh in 2010.
Jonny Bairstow makes it six Yorkshire players in the squad, pipping Kent’s exciting wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings as backup to Jos Buttler. Joe Root, who was originally scheduled for a rest, makes the squad; however, Steven Finn, who was part of the World Cup squad but has not played Test cricket since the 2013 Ashes, misses out.
Phil Simmons is poised to take over as head coach of West Indies in time for the series. Simmons, who has been in charge of Ireland since 2007 and oversaw their recent World Cup campaign, is understood to have agreed terms with the West Indies Cricket Board.
England squad
AN Cook (capt), IJL Trott, A Lyth, GS Ballance, IR Bell, JE Root, JC Buttler (wkt), JM Bairstow (wkt), BA Stokes, AU Rashid, JC Tredwell, LE Plunkett, SCJ Broad, CJ Jordan, JM Anderson, MA Wood.
