Ben Foakes ruled out of LV= Insurance Test Series

• Foakes has torn his left hamstring
• Kent’s Sam Billings and Nottinghamshire’s Haseeb Hameed added to the Test squad

Surrey and England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes is ruled out of the forthcoming LV= Insurance Test series against New Zealand after tearing his left hamstring.

Foakes, who was selected in the England men’s squad earlier this month, was set to play his first Test in home conditions next month at Lord’s, sustained the injury on Sunday slipping in the dressing room after Surrey’s LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Middlesex at the Kia Oval.

He will now be assessed and work closely on his rehabilitation with the Surrey medical team and is expected to be out of action for at least three months.

England Men’s Head Coach Chris Silverwood has called up Kent’s wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings and Nottinghamshire’s top-order batsman Haseeb Hameed.

Billings, an established member of England’s white-ball squads, is uncapped as a Test player.

Hameed, who has been in impressive form during the 2021 county season, has scored 474 runs at an average of 52.66, last played Test cricket in November 2016. His three Test caps came against India during England’s winter tour of 2016.

Hameed will play for Nottinghamshire in this week’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston starting on Thursday. He will join up with the England team at their base in London on Sunday night.

Ends

England Men’s Test Squad

Joe Root (Yorkshire) Captain

James Anderson (Lancashire)

Sam Billings (Kent)

James Bracey (Gloucestershire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Rory Burns (Surrey)

Zak Crawley (Kent)

Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)

Dan Lawrence (Essex)

Jack Leach (Somerset)

Craig Overton (Somerset)

Ollie Pope (Surrey)

Ollie Robinson (Sussex)

Dom Sibley (Warwickshire)

Olly Stone (Warwickshire)

Mark Wood (Durham)

LV= Insurance Test Series

1^st Test: England v New Zealand, 2-6 June 2021, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London

2^nd Test: England v New Zealand, 10-14 June 2021, Edgbaston, Birmingham