No stokes in Ashes

England and Wales Cricket Board has announced name of the players for upcoming tour of Australia where all-rounder Ben Stokes is not included.

Head coach Chris Silverwood has named a 17-player squad for the tour of Australia starting in November

All 17 players have been capped at Test level and is the strongest available squad selected by Silverwood. Ten of the 17 will be touring Australia in an Ashes series for the first time, including vice-captain Jos Buttler.

On July 30, Stokes announced that he will take a break from cricket.

It was expected that Stokes will return for Ashes, skipping the lengthy period inside the bio-secure bubble during the remainder of Indian Premier League and ICC T20 World Cup.

Stokes was included in the ECB’s central contract list announced on Friday but he was not picked for Ashes.

England Squad: Joe Root (Captain), James Anderson (Lancashire)Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. – TBP