LONDON: White-ball specialist Liam Livingstone has been given the chance to shine with the red ball for England’s three-Test tour of Pakistan starting in December, but veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad misses the trip.

There is also a first Test call-up for Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks after an impressive summer in which he impressed with bat and off-spin, helping Surrey win the County Championship Division One title, as opener Alex Lees was dropped from the 15-man squad announced on Wednesday.

Livingstone has never played an international at Test level and has not even featured in first-class cricket for over a year, increasingly focusing his efforts on the shorter forms after becoming a mainstay of England’s limited-overs side.

The 29-year-old’s selection represents a huge gamble having sat out Lancashire’s entire championship season and managing just eight games in the two previous campaigns, averaging 11 in 2021 and 18.5 in 2020.

But he has quickly become a star of the international game in limited overs.

Livingstone smashed his country’s fastest ever international century in just 42 balls against Pakistan last summer and his style is likely to chime with the attacking instincts of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Lees, who was left out of the pool of players given a central contract earlier in the week, has paid for averaging just 23.8 from 10 Test caps.

Keaton Jennings, whose two Test centuries were both made in the sub-continent, returns to the squad for the first time since February 2019 after scoring 1,233 County Championship runs this summer along with Ben Duckett.

Jennings and Duckett will both be eyeing the opening slot after Lees’ axing, an omission flagged by his failure to earn a central contract this week.

Broad misses out with his partner expecting their first child towards the end of November.

The 36-year-old, who returned to the England squad under the new leadership of McCullum and Stokes, helped the team win six of their seven tests this summer by taking 29 wickets.

Broad’s absence is softened by the return of Mark Wood, included in the squad for the first time since March, while Surrey quick Jamie Overton is in after making his Test debut earlier against New Zealand at Headingley in June.

England’s trip is their first to play a Test series in Pakistan since 2005.

“We are looking forward to touring Pakistan as a Test team for the first time since 2005,” said Rob Key, Managing Director for England Men’s Cricket. “It will be a historic tour and a compelling series against a good side

“The selectors have picked a squad for the conditions we can expect in Pakistan. There is a strong blend of youth and experience and players who will adapt well to the types of pitches we are likely to get across the three-match series.”

All three Tests are packed into just 21 days between December 1 and 21 in Rawalpindi, Multan and Karachi.

Squad: Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2022