Ashes 2023: spinner Rehan Ahmed added to England squad for second LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Test at Lord’s

Leicestershire spinner Rehan Ahmed has been called up to England’s LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes squad. Ahmed is in contention to make his first Ashes appearance at Lord’s on Wednesday. 

Ahmed, a leg spinner, has been drafted in as cover for Moeen Ali who struggled with an injury to his bowling hand in the defeat at Edgbaston. If Ahmed plays, it would also be his first home appearance in Test matches for England. 

Making his debut in the third Test against Pakistan in Karachi last year, Ahmed took 7 wickets including a 5-48 in the second innings- a performance which helped England towards an 8 wicket win. 

Ahmed is understandably still very early into his career. In fact, he has still only played 11 first class matches, yet his raw talent has seen him leap into contention and earned him his Test debut already. 

Whether or not he gets the nod to play at Lord’s looks likely to depend on whether or not Ali is fully fit. The risk England could take is to go for experience over youth but then if Ali picks up the same injury and England will be left with just Joe Root as a feasible spin option. 

Ahmed is a fresh and exciting option who will bring an arsenal-worth of deliveries and technique to Lord’s. With England looking to bounce back from their narrow 2 wicket loss at Edgbaston in the first test, bringing in Ahmed could be just the kind of shakeup they need to pull level in the series once again. 

Full England Ashes squad

• Ben Stokes (Durham) Captain
• Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)
• Moeen Ali (Warwickshire)
• James Anderson (Lancashire)
• Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
• Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
• Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
• Zak Crawley (Kent)
• Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
• Dan Lawrence (Essex)
• Ollie Pope (Surrey)
• Matthew Potts (Durham)
• Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
• Joe Root (Yorkshire)
• Josh Tongue (Worcestershire)
• Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
• Mark Wood (Durham)