Jamie Overton recalled to England Test squad for India series

Jamie Overton has been handed a surprise recall to England's squad for the first Test against India after his Surrey team-mate Gus Atkinson was ruled out with a hamstring strain. Jacob Bethell's return to the squad creates a top-order selection headache, while Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse are both back after missing England's win over Zimbabwe with niggles.

Overton won his only cap at Headingley, the venue for the first Test on June 20, against New Zealand in 2022, in which he made a matchturning 97 and took a wicket in each innings. He broke his little finger last week during an ODI against West Indies, and has only played three County Championship matches since the start of last season due to injury and the IPL. However, he has jumped ahead of Matthew Potts as seam-bowling cover.

"We've spoken many times about our varied attack, and making sure that we've still got some pace in the attack," Luke Wright, England's selector, said. "Jamie showed in white-ball cricket that he's got a huge amount of pace and bounce, and he's a real threat.

"He's obviously had a taste of Test cricket before, and did well, getting some runs, which was great. He's going back to a ground he did well at Leeds, and for us, it's making sure that we've got the options. If one of those quicker bowlers were to go down, then we've got someone who could replace him, and Jamie is a great one to have available."

England were initially confident that Atkinson would recover from injury in time for the first Test but he was deemed unavailable for selection, leaving their seam options depleted. Mark Wood and Olly Stone are both out of the series with knee injuries, while Jofra Archer will not be match-fit until the second Test at the earliest after a thumb issue. Wright confirmed that Archer is expected to play a Championship match for Sussex against Durham in a fortnight's time to prepare himself for a possible recall.

Bethell, meanwhile, missed the Zimbabwe Test while at the IPL and his return leaves England with a dilemma. His impressive debut series in New Zealand, in which he scored three half-centuries at No. 3, left Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope's spots under pressure, but both men scored hundreds against Zimbabwe and may hold onto their places for the time being.

"He's very close," Wright said of Bethell's potential return to the starting XI. "It's a great option to have, isn't it? It's lovely to have him back, what a talent we all see in him. When Baz and Stokesy took on these roles, we were really struggling as a batting group to get runs on the board, and we're getting to a point now where we're getting real depth into that squad, which is fantastic."

Sam Cook is retained after making his debut against Zimbabwe but appears likely to start the series as back-up, with Woakes back in contention after an ankle issue. Josh Tongue, who missed the 2024 season through injury, is also named in the squad, and will play for England Lions against India A at Northampton this week - alongside Woakes - to prepare for the first Test.

Potts is arguably the unluckiest absentee, having been named in squads for all formats this summer, including the Zimbabwe Test in which Cook was selected ahead of him. His haul of 36 wickets at 29.44 in 10 Tests to date includes a key role in the first Bazball summer of 2022. However, he has been pushed down the pecking order ever since.

"It's really tough on Pottsy," Wright said. "It was probably between him and Cookie for that other spare bowler, if we were to lose Woakesy, and we just felt that maybe Cookie has got the edge with that new ball. But we know what Potts is all about. It's not easy for him, but it's great to have him as a squad bowler in the pack, if any injuries happen. But on this occasion, he's just missed out."

England's squad has changed significantly since their 4-1 series defeat in India 18 months ago: James Anderson retired shortly after that tour, while Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson have also been discarded. India have also undergone a transition, with R Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma all retiring and Shubman Gill taking on the captaincy for the first time.

The series starts at Headingley before moving onto Edgbaston, Lord's and Emirates Old Trafford, and will finish at the Kia Oval. India, who have not won a Test series in England since 2007, have sent several members of their squad ahead to play for India A against the Lions, and the rest of their touring party will arrive in the UK on Friday.

England squad for first Test vs India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.