Archer out of Ashes, Bairstow returns for Ireland Test

Jonny Bairstow will make his long-awaited international comeback from a horrific leg injury in England's Test match against Ireland as the ECB also confirmed injury-plagued quick Jofra Archer would miss the entire northern summer.

England has today announced a full-strength 15-player squad to face Ireland in their one-off four-day Test at Lord's from June 1-4, which will be Ben Stokes's side's only hit-out before the Ashes.

England Test squad v Ireland: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope (vc), Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Bairstow has been named as the team's wicketkeeper at the expense of an unlucky Ben Foakes owing to Harry Brook's scintillating start to his Test career, who replaced Bairstow when he was injured last year.

The Yorkshireman hasn't played for England since a freak golfing accident last September left him with three separate fractures in his left leg as well as a dislocated ankle and ligament damage.

The 33-year-old made his county return earlier this month, hitting scores of 20no, 0, 27 and 36 in his four innings for Yorkshire while also taking the gloves.

"It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad," said Rob Key, ECB's managing director for England men's cricket.

"He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about."

Bairstow scored four incredible hundreds during England's last home summer across a three-match stretch against New Zealand and India that yielded 597 runs striking at better than a run-a-ball to lead England to victory in three stunning fourth innings run chases.

Speedster Mark Wood also returns to the squad after taking a break from England's previous Test assignment in New Zealand in February, while 34-year-old Chris Woakes is in line to play his first Test in more than a year and first on home soil since August 2020.

Veteran seamer James Anderson has also been named in the squad despite an injury scare last weekend while playing for Lancashire, but the 40-year-old will have to prove his fitness from a mild groin strain to take his place in the final XI.

Anderson revealed on the BBC's Tailenders podcast expects to return from injury in "a couple of weeks" but won't seek a comeback for the one-off Test against Ireland.

"It's obviously not great getting injured but it's probably the best outcome for what it is because it's a low-grade thing. I think in a couple of weeks I'll be back to full fitness," Anderson said.

"It's frustrating because you always want to feel good and get enough bowling in before a series and you want to be fresh.

"So it's now about trying to plan the best route through this summer … I don't want to risk anything by making it worse.

"I'm more confident I can get this one right (compared to the 2019 series) and give the Ashes a right good crack."

But it's not so good news for Archer, who pushed through discomfort in his right elbow during his time with Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, which required a three-week layoff to undergo surgery on the troublesome joint.

The ECB said recent scans had revealed a recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow, ruling him out of the Ashes and the entire home summer to work with the England and Sussex medical teams on his injury management.

It will be the second straight year that Archer has missed the entire English season having only returned to the field in January following a back stress fracture.

"It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer," Key said.

"He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously.

"We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I'm sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format – hopefully, sooner rather than later."