McCullum-Stokes bandwagon rolls on without Crawley and Pope as the new England selector makes interesting picks

England cricket

England's new selector Marcus North has assumed his role as a selector, unveiling his maiden 15-men England squad for the first Test of the three-match New Zealand series starting at home from June 4. North who replaced Luke wright as the new selector, worked as the Director of cricket at Durham for the last eight years after representing six different counties during his playing days. This will be the first series for England after the re-appointment of Rob Key as the managing director of English cricket. Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes will continue their roles of coach and captain of the English cricket team respectively after a "thorough review" of England's 4-1 defeat in the much-awaited Ashes played in Australia which saw only Luke Wright being relieved of his duties as the national selector. Below are the major talking points with regards to the new squad selected by Marcus North.

Honeymoon finally ends for Crawley and Pope

It was a long time coming for Zak Crawley. For the last four years, Crawley had been an indispensable part of the English Test match line-up. After being in-and-out of the side during his early days, Crawley was recalled to the side as an opener and given public backing once McCullum and Stokes started their coach-captain partnership. Many agree that Crawley has been extremely lucky to play a total of 64 Tests with a meagre batting average of 31.18. Among all the openers who have played a minimum of 30 Tests for England, only Rory Burns averaged lower than Crawley, 30.32 in 32 Tests while no other opener has averaged less than 37. For context, Crawley averaged 30.52 in 56 Tests as opener for England with only four hundreds. The second lowest after Burns with 3.

Numbers aren't the only issue here. Many successful domestic players have not been able to deliver on the International level. But Zak Crawley has not been a hit at the domestic level too. After 144 First Class games, he averages 31.49 with the bat. There are plenty of technical deficiencies in his batting which has been exploited by the opposition bowlers time and time again. Crawley pushes hard at the balls leaving him on the fifth stump line, leaves a huge bat-and-pad gap against inswingers and he absolutely cannot play spin. Among all the genuine batters from positions 1-6 in the history of Test cricket, Crawley averages the 10th lowest with a 50 Test match cut-off. In this County Season itself, Crawley has scored only 192 runs in 10 innings so far highlighting how blind-sighted the English selectors were when they gave him such an extended run in this side. 

England will start the 2026 Test match summer without both Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope

Another name that has finally been dropped from this side was another average International cricketer Ollie Pope. Averaging 34.55 after 64 Tests, Pope had a decent stake at claiming the middle-order spot for England due to his excellent domestic numbers. In 70 First Class games excluding International matches, Pope averages 58.2 with 15 centuries. This season alone he has scored 359 run at an average of 71.8 with a highest of 109. However, it is not necessary that every brilliant domestic cricketer can achieve success on International level and Pope is a perfect example. 

These already poor numbers are inflated by scores of 205 and 171 against Ireland and Zimbabwe respectively. Pope averages under 40 in all countries except South Africa and although there have been fleeting moments of brilliance like his counter-attacking, match-winning 196 against India in Hyderabad, still his numbers against spin are mediocre with a batting average of only 30.4. Pope has fallen prey to the deliveries coming in many times, a weakness which has been exposed by bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins repeatedly. Just like Crawley, Pope too has a tendency to drive away from his body with hard hands although with better feet movement, making him a perfect candidate to edge behind. 

Pope himself falls in the unfortunate category of being the 20th worst batter in the history of Test cricket in terms of batting average. It is baffling to see both of these batter playing 64 Tests with such an inadequate technique and even worse numbers given the technically efficient batters present in County cricket. A lot of it was down to the stubbornness and lack of accountability employed by the Bazball regime with the reasoning of a build-up to the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia with the same squad. To be fair to Crawley, he did perform sufficiently better than other batters but Pope was dropped after scoring just 125 runs in 3 Tests and replaced by Jacob Bethell, another untested product of Bazball selection committee on the domestic level. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope will need a mountain of runs for them to claim their place back but the door seems to be closed for the foreseeable future.

Robinson urges ahead of Cook in race for Jimmy's vacant spot

Sir James Anderson, England's highest wicket-taker and world's third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket retired in July 2024 playing his last match against West Indies at Lord's cricket ground, the same match in which Gus Atkinson earned his first Test cap and took a 12-wicket haul ending up as the Player-of-the-Match and the subsequent Player-of-the-Series in his debut English appearance. Ever since that match, England has been left searching for a player who can take up the new-ball role left vacant by Jimmy with steady returns. The list of players that have auditioned for this role include Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, recently retired Chris Woakes, Matthew Potts, Jofra Archer and Sam Cook. England's quest to find the correct piece for this puzzle meant a recall for the 32-year old Ollie Robinson who last played a Test match in Feb 2024 on the India tour at Ranchi. 

Once considered as a pioneer of the Bazball association, Robinson was left out of the squad due to fitness concerns particularly in his last game when he 13 overs in the first innings of that Test well below 70 mph. There were also some attitude issues during his early playing days after his old controversial tweets had surfaced right after he made his England debut in 2021. Robinson had apologized for the same and was given a small suspension but the ECB recalled him into the squad until his fitness issues started causing frustration for the selectors. Robinson has now been recalled again to possibly take up the new-ball role after impressing in County cricket since last season. Robinson has brilliant numbers already in Test cricket with 76 wickets at a bowling average of 22.92 in 20 Tests. The reason for this exclusion were more about his pace and fitness. Robinson has taken 17 wickets in 5 matches so far and scored 305 runs including a hundred from No. 10 batting position.

Matthew Fisher has also kept his place after he was added to the squad as an injury replacement for Jofra Archer in the Ashes. Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson keep their place as Jofra Archer has been rested after a long season of IPL. Brydon Carse remains on the sidelines due to a hand injury sustained at the IPL. Two new-ball specialists would feel hard done by the recent announcements. Sam Cook has been the second highest wicket-taker this season with 21 wickets @ 20.66. After being harshly left out following his debut match against Zimbabwe after returning figures of 1-119, Cook has been regularly among the wickets but has again been overlooked after not making the squad last winter for the Ashes. 

Craig Overton is another consistent performer in the English domestic circuit not being tracked by this regime since his last appearance four years ago in West Indies after which England decided to press the Bazball switch. Overton stands at 19 wickets with a bowling average of 26 and with 304 runs including a highest score of 141 in the first five matches. Overton has been employed with both new ball and as a first change by Somerset this year and his performances warrant another chance at the International stage. Cook, Overton and Robinson all operate at almost similar speeds with the ability to move the new ball but for now the selectors have opted to give the spot to Robinson.

Yes, there are quality spinners in England

Shoaib Bashir keeps his spot as the premier spinner in the 15-member squad after being considered as "unselectable" in the Ashes that has just passed. The 22-year old debuted in 2024 at Vishakhapatnam playing a total 19 Tests with 68 wickets @ 39 and a Strike Rate of 61.75. Bashir has finally moved to Derbyshire and become a regular starter in Division 2 this season before lagging behind Jack Leach in the pecking order at Somerset for years. Bashir's International career so far has shown he is not yet ready for the biggest stage as he has not made any major impact even in helpful conditions. The only excuse given for his continued selection has been the lack of skillful spinners in the English domestic competition which is not true. Bashir has been the leading spinner in Div 2 with 14 wickets at a Strike Rate of 78.85 but there are many spinners in Div 1 that have outperformed Bashir in First Class cricket.

Leading English spinners in the County Championship 2026 

• The most surprising decision taken by McCullum as coach was to move on from England's best spinner since Graeme Swann, Jack Leach. Leach was the third highest wicket-taker last season with 52 wickets striking every 56 balls where Bashir struggled to pick a single wicket in 2 matches for Glamorgan. Leach still stands as the best spinner for England by a long margin in my opinion. 
• Dom Bess has improved rapidly since appearance 5 years ago. A constant at Yorkshire, Bess has taken 16 wickets @ 36 this year. Bess can hold one end for long allowing the fast bowlers to operate around him and also use his experience to deliver wickets whenever required.
• Mason Crane played only one match for England at Sydney 8 years ago. Although his career average still stands at over 40, Crane has been the second wicket-taker among spinners in the five County matches so far. There are moments of frustration with wrist-spinners at times but Crane has definitely improved on that aspect to become more consistent and can be a real X-factor on dead pitches. 
• Liam Patterson-White can provide the left-arm angle with better precision and can work as an excellent defensive option. A regular at Notthinghamshire, LPW leads the spinners charts with 19 wickets @ 27.36 with an economy of 2.86. At 28, he can be a great addition as the sole spinner in this English side. 
• One spinner that I really like in the County system is Jack Carson of Sussex. The tall 25-year old right arm off-spinner has not been at his best this season but with a career bowling average of 33.86 in 64 matches, Carson is someone England can look to build towards the future. All the spinners mentioned have been performing in Division 1 this season compared to Bashir in Division 2. Moreover, all these players are proper batters too except for Leach and hold a decent batting record in First Class cricket. The selectors just need to look in the direction which they have been unwilling to do so at this moment.

Rehan Ahmed had an outright season in 2025 as a spin-bowling all-rounder. With Figures of 760 runs @ 50.66 including 5 centuries and 23 wickets @ 19 in 10 matches, it took another bizarre selection of Will Jacks in the Ashes by this same management to deny Rehan a well-deserved return in the national colors. He is finally back in the English squad now as an all-round back-up to captain Ben Stokes and the second spinner. It will be interesting to see if Rehan finds a spot in the starting XI at some point this summer.

Delight for Gay, Rew and Baker

Young left-handers Emilio Gay, James Rew and the 23 year-old Right Arm Fast Sonny Baker are the latest newcomers in line for a maiden English cap in the whites. Emilio, who played three T20Is for Italy last year was in the reckoning for the T20 World Cup squad for the Azzuri before a hamstring injury ruled him out of the competition, allowing him an unexpected lifeline as he is now the front-runner to open with Ben Duckett at the Home of cricket next month. Gay has been a constant presence in the County circuit since his debut in 2019 for Northamptonshire and Durham. He had played at No. 3 for Durham and even England Lions in the past but will now be opening for England as confirmed by managing director Rob Key.

This is where the inconsistency of selection lies with England. They will now have two openers who generally play at No. 3 for their respective counties. While Duckett's record as opener is spotless, it would have been better to select a proper opener. Tom Haines has played for the Lions regularly now, Dom Sibley is again scoring heavy runs (457 @ 65.28) and even the 34-year old Ben Slater has been the third highest scorer in Division 1. Gay could have started at No. 3 in place of Bethell who can still collect more First-Class experience for Warwickshire.

Another name which has been doing rounds is the 22-year old Somerset wicket-keeper batter James Rew. With 12 First-Class hundreds in the first 62 matches, Rew started the season strongly but the returns somehow dwindled in the last two games with scores of 4 & 0 in the last match where he asked to specifically open rather than his usual No. 4 position in an attempt to stake a claim at the available opening spot. Rew has been selected as a back-up middle-order option and a second wicket-keeper after Jamie Smith. England will start the season with Bethell, Root, Brook, Stokes and Smith so Rew will have to wait for his chance but Jacob Bethell is still largely untested at this level and his form will be under scanner this summer at the crucial No. 3 spot.

Hampshire's Sonny Baker comes in with a sound reputation. He was fast-tracked in the limited-over squads for England last year. Baker produced a couple of under-cooked displays giving away 76 in 7 overs on his ODI debut against South Africa and then going for 52 in his 4 overs against Ireland on his T20I debut, both wicketless. He has only played 11 First Class matches so far, and is part of similar rushed selections without enough domestic experience under McCullum which includes names like Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hull. Baker should start on the bench behind Tongue, Atkinson, Robinson, Fisher and the impending return of Jofra later this Test season.

Does this squad signal a change of fortune for McCullum and his men?

The first question that should be on everyone's minds is "Are we going to see the same reckless behavior by the batters after ample promises of improvements"? Will there by any accountability going forward or will the same deluded attitude continue under the Key-McCullum-Stokes' new era? 

After the miserable Ashes in Australia where England surrendered meekly, there has been enough time for the men in authority to reflect on the mistakes that have hindered this team. The issues are not tough to find and are repeated by many experts in the public but there needs to be a willingness to change and refine for the sake of England cricket's future. England plays an average of 11 Tests in a year so they are the key to keeping Test cricket alive but this team needs to be better. Joe Root should be given the freedom to play his game and remove the unnecessary vile shots from his arsenal in the red-ball format. England's prodigy Harry Brook has the maximum scope of a mindset shift but it all depends on if he wants to be carve a match-winning, impactful career which he is easily capable of or be content with the excellent numbers he has accumulated so far because there is no question around his talent and skill. The whole problem lies with the reckless attitude of gifting his wicket in vital situations, a challenge which applies to the whole batting line-up.

Another intrigue circles around the kind of pitches which will be in play this summer. Since Broad and Anderson have said goodbye to International cricket, England have realized they do not possess the bowling pedigree to get 20 wickets against stronger oppositions consistently. Hence, they have tried to lay out flat pitches against teams like India, Australia and New Zealand while preparing pace-friendly pitches against Sri Lanka or West Indies. With Jofra back in their plans and bowlers like Atkinson, Tongue and Carse getting regular experience, will they trust their bowlers to do the job or still opt to play on belters and then go bang-bang in a bid to produce results? We should get all these answers in the next few months.

References: Statsguru by ESPNCricinfo, BBC Sport