London: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have named 18-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed as a cover for spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali for the ongoing Men's Ashes Test against Australia. During the first day of the Ashes 2023, Moeen Ali was hampered by a blistered spinning finger at Edgbaston.
Rehan Ahmed came to the limelight with an impressive five-wicket haul on his Test debut in Karachi last year. The 18-year-old will join the rest of the squad this weekend in London. Rehan got success playing for Leicestershire in this year's County Championship. So far, he has picked just six wickets at 67.66 in ten matches. However, he also performed well with his bat as he scored 423 runs at an average of 38.45, including four half-centuries and a best of 90 against Glamorgan.
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Moeen Ali in the first test had taken three wickets by conceding 204 runs. He was visibly having issues with his right index finger, which earned him a 25 per cent match-fee fine after he was punished for using a drying agent mid-match. England's head coach Brendon McCullum was positive about Moeen Ali's availability for the next test match. McCullum said after the match, "I'm pretty confident that we can get on top of Moeen's finger, that will give us an opportunity to select him in the next game and, if he's available, he will be selected. I thought Moeen did a great job."
England Men's Ashes Test Squad: Ben Stokes (Durham) Captain, Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
