England pick Broad, Moeen for first Ashes test

England on Wednesday named fast bowler Stuart Broad and spinner Moeen Ali in their team for the first Ashes test against Australia at Edgbaston starting on Friday.

James Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson will lead the pace attack with Moeen, who retired from tests in 2021, returning to the side after Jack Leach was ruled out of the series due to a back injury.

Anderson and Robinson sat out the one-off test against Ireland this month with Broad leading the attack and taking five-wickets in the first innings as England skittled out the visitors for 172.

Broad was preferred to Mark Wood, who was England's leading wicket-taker in the 2021-22 Ashes series in Australia with 17 scalps as captain Ben Stokes opted for the experience of Broad and Anderson, who have taken a combined 1,267 test wickets.

Jonny Bairstow, who made his return from a freak golf injury to keep wicket against Ireland in his first test for 10 months, was also included.

England team: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonathan Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.