LONDON
\nBen Stokes returns as captain for England\u2019s three-Test tour of Pakistan next month while Brydon Carse could make his debut just weeks after completing a ban for breaches of betting rules.
\nStokes will skipper the side after missing the 2-1 home series win against Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury. Opener Zak Crawley is also in the squad announced on Tuesday after missing the same series with a broken finger.
\nBowling all-rounder Carse, who returned to action in late August after serving a three-month ban for historical betting violations, appears to be the main beneficiary of a year-ending elbow injury to Durham team-mate and fellow quick Mark Wood.
\nThe South Africa-born 29-year-old, who has featured in 17 white-ball internationals for England, takes his place in a 17-strong squad alongside another player yet to make his Test bow, Jordan Cox.
\nDan Lawrence, a makeshift opener against Sri Lanka in the absence of Crawley, has been dropped.
\nYoung left-arm fast bowler Josh Hull has been retained while Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed \u2014 two spinners who featured in England\u2019s historic 3-0 series whitewash over Pakistan in 2022 \u2014 are recalled.
\nLeach was displaced as England\u2019s number one spinner this season by Shoaib Bashir but the Somerset pair, plus Leicestershire\u2019s Ahmed, form Stokes\u2019s trio of frontline slow bowling options.
\nThe tour is scheduled to get under way on October 7 in Multan. There are due to be further Tests in Karachi and Rawalpindi but renovations ahead of next year\u2019s ICC Champions Trophy are causing problems at those venues.
\nOne or more of the games could be moved to the United Arab Emirates or Sri Lanka.
\nHowever, as reported by Dawn earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) believes there is room for the series to be held within the country despite the presence of certain obstacles.
\nThe matches are scheduled to be held in Multan (Oct. 7-11), Karachi (Oct. 15-19) and Rawalpindi (Oct. 24-28). But with Karachi set to be ruled out as one of the host venues \u2014 pertaining to the ongoing construction work to prepare the metropolis\u2019 National Bank Stadium for the Champions Trophy \u2014 a tweak in the series itinerary is imminent.
\nThe PCB, Dawn reported, mulled over shifting the Karachi fixture to Rawalpindi, but the idea was discarded when the board learnt the high-profile Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting would be held during the same time in Islamabad.
\nTherefore, the reorganised schedule may see the PCB may shift the first Test from Multan to Rawalpindi and before returning to the former city for the second match and hold the final match in Rawalpindi, giving the garrison city the opportunity to host two games.
\nEngland would be looking to make the most of the poor state if the cricket affairs in Pakistan, with the national side recently registering their first-ever Test whitewash against Bangladesh in a two-match series.
\nEngland squad: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Ben Stokes returns as captain for England\u2019s three-Test tour of Pakistan next month while Brydon Carse could make his debut just weeks after completing a ban for breaches of betting rules. Stokes will skipper the side after missing the 2-1 home series win against Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury. Opener Zak Crawley is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-430716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n