England leave out Wood for first Ashes Test

England have left out their fastest bowler, Mark Wood, for their opening Ashes Test against Australia, backing in veterans Stuart Broad and James Anderson, while Moeen Ali's comeback out of retirement has been confirmed.

As Australia's batters practiced facing quick bouncers at training on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Wood's extra pace, England announced an XI without him. 

Broad, Anderson and fellow skilful seamer Ollie Robinson have been picked as the pace trio instead, with Moeen, who hasn't played a first-class match in over 18 months, picked as the spinner.

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England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

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It will come as some surprise to the Aussies, whose early read on the Edgbaston surface was that it was likely to be a dry surface, possibly favouring batters more than bowlers.

"I had a little look (at the pitch) yesterday, there was a fair amount of grass, albeit it was quite dead grass, it was quite brown three days out," Steve Smith told reporters.

"We'll have another look today and see what it's like, but it was quite furry, not really live grass.

"It's pretty warm out there so I assume it will dry out unless (the curator) decides to water it. We'll see."

Captain Ben Stokes may also bolster England's bowling stocks as the allrounder bowled at match intensity earlier on Wednesday in the nets, albeit with heavy bandaging on his troublesome left knee that has sidelined him from the bowling crease.

Getting Stokes, who went a month without bowling in the lead-in to this series and grimaced in pain after jarring his knee during the Test against Ireland earlier this month, up to bowl will be vital for the hosts.

The talisman skipper, who has turned England's flagging Test hopes around with his new brand of leadership, can be a match-turning bowler at his best.

Image Id: EDA92DF138A647349669155F3B4D35BA Image Caption: Stokes going through his paces at training on Wednesday // Getty

He swung the ball both ways in a five-over spell in the nets at training two days out from the first Test and also has shown the ability to bowl fast, short-pitched spells in Ashes Tests before.

Being able to do that again in Wood's absence would be a major boost given Robinson, Anderson and Broad are all more reliant on swing and seam for their wickets.

"To have him back on the park, it's going to be a big boost for us really," Harry Brook said of his captain, having practiced his own medium pace in recent days. 

"In my opinion, he's the best allrounder in the world and has been for many years now."

The other big variable for England is Moeen's admission that he has no business holding up an end, being more of a wicket-taker than the kind of miserly spinner he is replacing in Jack Leach.

The 35-year-old is coming off next to no recent red-ball bowling but did not train on Wednesday, instead travelling to Windsor Castle to receive an OBE for services to cricket.

"I've been trying to book it for a while, but I've not really had a date," Moeen said. "I got this date after quite some time. I spoke to Baz (coach Brendon McCullum) and he said it's fine."

Australia are yet to confirm their XI. The visitors are weighing up which two fast bowlers out of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland to play alongside captain Pat Cummins.

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood