Out-of-form opener dumped for second Test against Pakistan, with Keaton Jennings reinstated as Alastair Cook's partner
England axe Stoneman after Lord's defeat
England have swung the axe at the selection table, dropping out-of-form opener Mark Stoneman for the second Test against Pakistan at Headingley.
The hosts announced they've recalled Keaton Jennings on Monday, the only chance to the 12-man squad, following their nine-wicket defeat at Lord's.
Stoneman, short of runs for Surrey at the start of this summer, could only muster a total of just 13 in two innings in the first Test.
The 25-year-old Jennings, who averaged 24.50 after the last of his six Tests almost 10 months ago - when he was replaced by Stoneman - has started his season well, hitting two County Championship centuries already and averaging almost 44 for his new club Lancashire.
"Keaton Jennings showed a strong temperament in scoring a hundred on his Test match debut against India in December 2016," said national selector Ed Smith.
"Keaton has found good form in county cricket this season, including three centuries in his last seven innings."
Stoneman and Alastair Cook are, statistically, England's worst opening partnership, the duo averaging just 18.75 for the first wicket -- the lowest average of any of the 16 England opening pairs that have batted together on at least 20 occasions.
Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, was unusually forthright in castigating his side's specialist batsmen after Lord's.
"(This) was nowhere near good enough for Test level...to be bowled out for 180 and 240 is simply not good enough," the Australian said.
"We keep making the same mistakes.
"The batters have to have a good, hard, long look at themselves."
Captain Joe Root insisted his side could bounce back in Leeds next week following their humiliating loss, but admitted he too was concerned with England's batting.
"We know we're under-performing...we've not performed to anywhere we need to," Root said.
Their efforts at Lord's followed seven winless Tests in Australia and New Zealand where England lost their first five wickets for fewer than 150 runs on six occasions, including being bowled out for 58 in Auckland.
"It's very disappointing," Root told BBC's Test Match Special. "We have been out-performed in all three departments, we have not batted well enough, first innings in particular.
"There have been a number of collapses recently and we have to find a way as a group."
He added: "We are ambitious, we want to win but sometimes we make poor decisions.
"We've got to be smarter with that -- guys have got to find a way of scoring runs.
"Ultimately it's about the number of runs you score, not how long it takes you and maybe on occasions we need to absorb a bit more pressure.
"Over a longer period of time that's going to pay dividends for us. We can do that next week and we must take that chance."
England must win the second Test, which begins on Friday, to avoid a series defeat.
England squad: Joe Root (capt), Alistair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Mark Wood.
- With AAP, AFP
Qantas tours of England and Zimbabwe
ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye
T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth
Qantas Tour of England
June 7: Warm-up v Sussex, Hove (D/N)
June 9: Warm-up v Middlesex, Lord's
June 13: First ODI, The Oval (D/N)
June 16: Second ODI, Cardiff
June 19: Third ODI, Trent Bridge (D/N)
June 21: Fourth ODI, Durham (D/N)
June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford
June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)
Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe
Sunday, July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
Monday, July 2: Pakistan vs Australia
Tuesday, July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe
Wednesday, July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
Thursday, July 5: Pakistan vs Australia
Friday, July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe
Sunday, July 8: Final