Ollie Pope averages 34.55 in 64 Tests for England
Surrey duo Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence have been recalled to the England squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan.
The pair have been named in a 16-man squad before the series opener at Headingley on Wednesday 19 August but Jacob Bethell will miss the entire series through injury, with Jordan Cox to be promoted to number three.
The three-match series marks England's first Test outing since the retirement of captain Ben Stokes and sacking of head coach Brendon McCullum.
Joe Root will captain the side for the first time since being reappointed to the role in July, with Marcus Trescothick serving as interim head coach. McCullum's replacement, Stephen Fleming, will begin his tenure against South Africa in December.
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England's 16-man squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
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Lawrence, who earned the last of his 14 Test caps in September 2024, is rewarded for his domestic form. The 29-year-old is the second-highest run-scorer in Division One of the County Championship, with 788 runs at 65.66, including five centuries, in 13 innings.
He is slated to bat at six, filling a middle-order vacancy created by Stokes' retirement, but is far from a like-for-like replacement for the former captain.
Only Gus Atkinson (79 wickets) has taken more Test wickets for England than Stokes (78) since the start of June 2022. Lawrence, who bowls right-arm off-spin, has taken nine wickets from 178.2 overs in the County Championship this season.
There is no place in the squad for Sam Curran or Rehan Ahmed, who had both been tipped to replace Stokes.
"We have selected a squad for the first two Tests that balances rising talent with the experience needed against a quality Pakistan team," said England's men's national selector, Marcus North.
"Sam Curran is a player of real value and interest in terms of that role. He's had a heavy summer workload and he's been playing at the highest level with a number of niggles and we don't feel he's quite right at the moment for this Test squad.
"Rehan has done nothing wrong – he's someone we highly regard. At this stage we felt that going in with what we see as our best six batters with Smudge [Jamie Smith] at seven is key. That's why Lawrence has got the nod at six."