Leg spinner Rehan Ahmed has been added to England's squad for the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's. The 18-year-old Ahmed, who made his Test debut last year against Pakistan, will join Brendon McCullum's team as a replacement for Moeen Ali. The England off-spinning all-rounder is under serious doubt for the second Test after suffering a finger injury in the team's defeat at Edgbaston, though it's believed that Ali recovering well.
England will be anxious about the risk that the skin could split once more, giving Moeen agony and altering his bowling motion. Thus, in preparation for the Test, Leicestershire all-rounder Ahmed will join the England team. During the winter tour of Pakistan, Ahmed established a record for becoming England's youngest Test player. The Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks, who also participated in the trip in December, has been passed over in favour of him.
Rehan was selected despite having only six wickets at 67.66 in ten County Championship matches this season for Leicestershire. However, he has made an impact with the bat for his county, scoring 423 runs at 38.45, including four half-centuries and a personal-best 90 against Glamorgan.
England missed out on the Ashes opener by a tiny margin of two wickets as Australia went one up in the opening Test at Edgbaston. A valiant century by Root in the first innings and a fiery spell by Stuart Broad kept England in the hunt till the very end, but the Kangaroos kept their cool and emerged victorious in the last hour of the fifth day.
England squad for the remainder of Ashes 2023:
Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
