Archer misses out as England name XI

Uncapped pace ace Jofra Archer has missed selection for the first Ashes Test, England captain Joe Root confirmed on match eve in Birmingham.

Archer has trained with England this week but the hosts have opted against picking their 24-year-old World Cup hero, with veteran seamer James Anderson returning to the Test XI at the expense of Olly Stone.

England XI for first Test: Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Joe Root (c), Joe Denly, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

As expected, vice-captain Ben Stokes and explosive batsman Jos Butler come back in after missing last week’s 143-run win over Ireland at Lord’s at the expense of allrounder Sam Curran and spinner Jack Leach.

Root will bat at No.3 where he averages 40.47 from 40 innings compared to 48 one spot lower, with Joe Denly slotting in at No.4.

Archer had been managing a side injury during England’s successful World Cup campaign and spent a week in Barbados recovering after the unforgettable final.

He made his cricket comeback last Friday in a T20 clash for Sussex in Hove before joining the England squad for the first Test.

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But England’s selectors have backed in the experienced trio of Anderson, Broad and Woakes for the blockbuster series opener

“Jofra is coming back from quite a serious injury,” Root explained on Wednesday. “Looking at the conditions, we picked the attack we thought would best take 20 wickets.”

Root has been England’s Test captain since July 2017 and was in charge when Australia regained the Ashes on home soil 4-0 18 months ago.

The 28-year-old says his side learned a lot from experiencing that Ashes defeat and now commands a versatile outfit that aims to climb the summit of Test cricket.

“We’ve come quite a long way in the last couple of years as well, as a team,” Root said.

“We’ve got plenty more options, especially with the ball; pace, different angles we can go to.

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“We’ve struggled away from home the last couple of years – we’ve come off the back of managing to win a difficult tour in Sri Lanka.

“We feel like we’re building momentum nicely as a team and slowly getting to where we want to, which is the No.1 team in the world.

“All that in mind, I feel like we want to continue with that progression and it’s obviously a huge series.

“(The squad has) a good mix of youth, inexperience and vast experience with the likes of Jimmy (Anderson) and (Stuart) Broady.

“So I think we’re nicely poised going into it. But it counts for nothing come the first ball.”