Ashes 2023: England announce playing XI for Leeds Test; Ali, Woakes, Wood included, Anderson dropped

England are trailing 0-2 in the five Test Ashes 2023 series.

England have made notable changes heading into the third Ashes 2023 Test at Headingley. The ECB confirmed the playing XI on July 5, 2023, which sees them dropping veteran pacer James Anderson and Josh Tongue from the side which played at Lord’s.

Also ruled out of the rest of the ongoing Ashes 2023 is Ollie Pope who dislocated his shoulder at Lord’s and will now undergo surgery to correct the issue.

Anderson being dropped was highly anticipated as he has so far claimed three wickets at 75.33. He makes way for Chris Woakes to return, who will play his first home Test since September 2021, but whose record of 94 wickets at 22.63 in England makes him the obvious like-for-like replacement.

Moeen Ali’s return will lessen the blow of Pope’s injury to an extent and is also the reason why England didn’t bring in Dan Lawrence into the side. Harry Brook has been handed Pope's role at No.3, in a show of faith despite his quiet series to date, with 132 runs at 33 in four innings.

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Moeen missed the Lord's Test after sustaining a cut to the knuckle of his spinning finger, but he has been deemed fit.

On the other hand, Josh Tongue, despite his spirited performance at Lord’s where he picked five wickets, has made way for the extra pace of Mark Wood.

After missing the Lord's Test to ensure his readiness for action, Wood returns for his first Test since the tour of Pakistan in December.  This will also be his first outing in competitive cricket, since his appearance in IPL 2023.

England XI for the Headingley, Leeds Test:

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood

(ECB inputs)