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England have picked a very predictable Ashes squad, avoiding selecting any uncapped players and refusing to take any kind of risk.
The two surprises for me were overlooking Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson.
Saqib would have given a different element to the attack in Australian conditions with his skiddy reverse swing, in the absence of the pace of Jofra Archer and Olly Stone.
England's squad for this year's Ashes is very predictable with no risks taken by the tourists
And I would have gone for Parkinson’s leg-spin instead of Dom Bess. I would have liked a bit of wrist spin available to me as captain — if not Parkinson, then Mason Crane.
But Chris Silverwood and Joe Root like loyalty and consistency in selection, so have stuck with their two capped spinners. I’d also have taken a punt on Liam Livingstone, an in-your-face, confident cricketer in the mould of Kevin Pietersen and Ben Stokes. He’s someone who could take the attack to the opposition from his natural, middle-order position.
The absence of Stokes is the biggest concern. It gives England a massive selection headache. Without him, it will be a nightmare trying to balance the side and I envisage England going into matches with an all-seam attack backed up by Root’s off-spin.
