England calls for Robinson, Gay, Rew & Baker

TL;DR

England has recalled Ollie Robinson after a two-year absence and included uncapped players Emilio Gay, James Rew, and Sonny Baker for the upcoming Test against New Zealand. Zak Crawley has been dropped following a poor performance in the Ashes series.

Key points

Ollie Robinson returns to the England Test team after two years.
Emilio Gay, James Rew, and Sonny Baker are uncapped players included in the squad.
Zak Crawley has been dropped from the squad following poor performance.

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New Zealand

Ollie RobinsonZak CrawleyEmilio GayJames Rew

Ollie Robinson won the last of his 20 Test caps against India in 2024 [Getty Images]

England have ended Ollie Robinson's two-year international exile and called up uncapped trio Emilio Gay, James Rew and Sonny Baker for the first Test since the dismal Ashes campaign.

Sussex seamer Robinson, 32, returns after being dropped in 2024 as England look for an attack leader to take on New Zealand at Lord's from 4 June.

As expected, opener Zak Crawley pays the price for his disappointing tour of Australia and is left out for the first time since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took charge of the England Test team in 2022.

Crawley's place in the XI is likely to go to Durham 26-year-old Gay, who has the advantage over fellow left-hander Rew, 22, by virtue of being a specialist opener.

Shoaib Bashir is named in the squad despite being ignored for the entire Ashes series and will vie for the spinner's spot with Rehan Ahmed. Leg-spinner Ahmed could play in a home Test for the first time.

England have also confirmed the appointment of Australian Marcus North as the new national selector. The Durham director of cricket replaces Luke Wright, who stepped down for personal reasons after the Ashes, and becomes the first foreigner to chair England's selection panel.

The greatest intrigue from North's first squad is provided by the recall of Robinson in a pace-bowling department in need of rebuilding after the retirements of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Woakes in successive years.

Robinson has a hugely impressive Test record, with 76 wickets at an average below 23 from his 20 matches. He was long seen as the new-ball heir to Anderson and Broad.

But he fell out of favour and was dropped following the tour of India more than two years ago. England grew frustrated with, among other issues, problems around fitness – Robinson suffered back injuries in each of his past two Tests: against Australia at Headingley in 2023 and against India in Ranchi in 2024.