England name replacement for retired Anderson in squad for second West Indies Test

Mark Wood has been called into the squad for the second Test, replacing James Anderson, who retired from international cricket following England's thumping innings victory at Lord’s.

Wood returns to the England setup after below-par performances in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where he played in five of England’s eight matches and took just three wickets, all against Oman.

His inclusion strengthens England’s pace attack for the upcoming match, which already features Gus Atkinson, Chris Woakes, Matthew Potts, Ben Stokes and Dillon Pennington.

England squad for the second Test: Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith retains his place for the second Test after an impressive debut, where he scored 70 runs and took four catches in the opening Test of the series.

During Anderson’s farewell Test, Gus Atkinson stole the spotlight with a spectacular bowling performance, ending with impressive match figures of 12/106.

Anderson retired on a high with a vintage display of swing and seam bowling that had the batters in a daze, recording figures of 3/32 in his final innings in international cricket.

ALSO SEE: Latest World Test Championship standings

As a result of their dominant win, England has closed the gap with the teams above them in the World Test Championship standings. Although they remain 9th, they are now tied on points-percentage with Bangladesh and South Africa (all at 25%) and are closing in on the West Indies, who are at 26.67%.

A victory in the next match would see England leapfrog all these teams to secure the 6th spot.