The trio have all been named in a 14-man squad to play for the Professional County Club Select XI in a three-day match which starts on Thursday. The fixture was initially due to begin on Wednesday and last three days but was moved back, by mutual agreement, to enable the ECB to field the strongest possible invitational side ahead of next week’s first Test.
Gay is expected to be fully fit for the Test series after he retired hurt with a shoulder injury while batting for Durham in the One-Day Cup last week. He made a half-century on Test debut against New Zealand in June and another in the second Test at The Oval, though finished the series with an average of 23.16 from six innings.
Bashir has been in limbo for the past month, playing only twice for Derbyshire in the One-Day Cup yet backed by Marcus North, England’s selector, as the “number one spinner” available. He is unlikely to feature against Pakistan, with England expected to pick four seamers and rely on Dan Lawrence’s offspin as they rebalance their side following Ben Stokes’ retirement.
Fisher is short on cricket after bowling only ten balls in the Hundred, but is one of seven seamers in England’s Test squad. His potential involvement will depend on how others pull up after the Hundred – Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue are likely to be involved in the knockout stages – and whether Ollie Robinson misses the first Test on paternity leave.
Several England players are likely to face a tight turnaround from Sunday night’s Hundred final at Lord’s to the start of the first Test on Wednesday morning at Headingley. Ben Duckett will definitely be involved for Trent Rockets, while any of Atkinson, Carse, Tongue, Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence and Ollie Pope could yet feature depending on their teams’ progress.
Other notable inclusions in the PCC Select XI squad are James Rew, who struggled on Test debut at The Oval in June; Josh Hull, the one-cap Test seamer who has only taken eight wickets for Leicestershire across formats this year; Essex’s Noah Thain, the leading run-scorer in the One-Day Cup; and 28-cap Scotland international Charlie Tear.
Sussex’s Tom Haines will captain the side, which also features recent England Under-19s players Luc Benkenstein, Caleb Falconer and Manny Lumsden. The squad does not contain any players required for their counties or franchises in the knockout stages of the One-Day Cup or the Hundred.
The PCC Select XI will be coached by Mike Yardy, the England Under-19s head coach. They would usually be overseen by the England Lions head coach, but that role is vacant after Andrew Flintoff’s abrupt resignation on Friday.
Pakistan arrived in the UK from their drawn Test series in the Caribbean against West Indies on Saturday, and have been training at Beckenham this week. Shan Masood, who missed the second Test with a finger injury, batted under medical supervision during a training session on Monday.
PCC Select XI squad: Tom Haines (capt), Shoaib Bashir, Luc Benkenstein, Caleb Falconer, Matt Fisher, Emilio Gay, Nathan Gilchrist, Josh Hull, Manny Lumsden, James Rew, James Sales, Charlie Tear, Noah Thain, Saif Zaib.
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