England calls for Robinson, Gay, Rew & Baker

Breaking news from the world of sport: England calls for Robinson, Gay, Rew & BakerImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Ollie Robinson won the last of his 20 Test caps against India in 2024ByStephan Shemilt Cricket CorrespondentPublished13 May 2026, 12:00 BSTUpdated 9 minutes agoEngland have ended Ollie Robinson's two-year international exile and called up uncapped trio Emilio Gay, James Rew and Sonny Baker for the first Test since the dismal Ashes campaign. Sussex seamer Robinson, 32, returns after being dropped in 2024 as England look for an attack leader to take on New Zealand at Lord's from 4 June. As expected, opener Zak Crawley pays the price for his disappointing tour of Australia - which ended in a 4-1 England defeat - and is left out for the first time since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took charge of the Test team in 2022.

Crawley's place in the XI is likely to go to Durham 26-year-old Gay, who has the advantage over fellow left-hander Rew, 22, by virtue of being a specialist opener. Shoaib Bashir is named in the squad despite being ignored for the entire Ashes series and will vie for the spinner's spot with Rehan Ahmed. Leg-spinner Ahmed could play in a home Test for the first time.

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England have also confirmed the appointment of Australian Marcus North as the new national selector. The Durham director of cricket replaces Luke Wright, who stepped down for personal reasons after the Ashes, and becomes the first foreigner to chair England's selection panel. The greatest intrigue from North's first squad is provided by the recall of Robinson in a pace-bowling department in need of rebuilding after the retirements of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Woakes in successive years.

Robinson has a hugely impressive Test record, with 76 wickets at an average below 23 from his 20 matches. He was long seen as the new-ball heir to Anderson and Broad. But he fell out of favour and was dropped following the tour of India more than two years ago.

England grew frustrated with, among other issues, problems around fitness – Robinson suffered back injuries in each of his past two Tests: against Australia at Headingley in 2023 and against India in Ranchi in 2024. England squad for first Test against New Zealand: Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue. Australian North set to be England selector Published5 days agoEngland 'feckless, reckless and legless' in Ashes Published13 AprilThe 92mph England fast bowler ready to move on from difficult debut Published30 AprilFew doubt Robinson's pedigree as one the premier seamers in the country and his competitiveness will add some much-needed fire to England's attack.

He was contacted by England management at the beginning of the season and has been given the responsibility of captaining Sussex.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.