Josh Tongue, a 25-year-old seamer from Worcestershire who has never played for England before, has been added to the team that will face Ireland in a one-off Test next week. The young pacer has been on the judges’ minds for a long time because he has done so well in the domestic circuit.
Josh Tongue was thinking about quitting cricket early because of a much-criticized shoulder injury that caused him to miss 15 months of games. He has been with Worcestershire since he was in the school. After doing well in the junior ranks, he has played for the club at every level.
The great pacer was with the England Lions when they went to Sri Lanka earlier this year and played in their red-ball games. Luke Wright, who used to play cricket for England and is now the men’s national selection, said that the team needs to add new players to make it stronger for the summer.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on Josh Tongue for a while, and he deserves to be in the Test team. It will be a great learning experience for him to work with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum and get used to their style.
“It’s important to have players who are ready to respond, and with a big summer of Test cricket coming up, we’ll need that depth in our team.” The England men’s national selection, Luke Wright, said, “We hope Josh and the rest of the team do well in their first international of the season.”
England is worried about the health of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson.
James Anderson, an English pacer with a lot of experience, hurt his groin, so Tongue is expected to take his place. Also, Ollie Robinson has an ankle problem and is unlikely to play for the Three Lions against Ireland at Lord’s in a four-day Test match. Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood are the other fast bowlers in the match, which starts on Thursday, June 1.