Kirstie Gordon called up to England Test squad

Kirstie Gordon, the left-arm spinner, has been called up to England’s squad of 13 for the one-off Ashes Test match in Taunton beginning on Thursday (July 18).



Gordon has only ever featured for England in T20Is, earning all five of her caps in the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. She proved effective through the tournament taking eight wickets at an average of 12.25 and economy rate of 5.51. She missed out on playing any subsequent series having suffered a stress fracture. However, the 21-year-old, who previously played for Scotland, impressed during the three-day practice match between England Academy and Australia at Marlborough College, taking eight wickets in the match. She finished the second innings with figures of 6 for 85.



Danielle Wyatt and Jenny Gunn, who were part of England’s ODI squad, have not made the cut. They will join the England Academy squad for their T20 fixtures against Australia A and Ireland.



Alex Hartley and Fran Wilson will stay in Taunton as cover for the players. Wilson, who showed promising form through the ODI series and in the practice match narrowly missed out on selection.



With Australia having taken a six point lead in the series, England have to win the Test match to stay alive in the series. A draw will mean Australia retain the Ashes.



"It's obviously a very important match for us and we need to win it to stay in the series,” said Heather Knight. "The beauty of the multi-format points series means we're still very much in the battle, a normal bilateral series that finished like the ODIs would have been finished but we can get back to 6-4 with a win in the Test match and that's exciting.”



England demolished Australia A in their three-day practice match at Millfield School in Somerset. Tammy Beumont, Amy Jones and Natalie Sciver all scored centuries, while Sarah Taylor and Knight managed fifties. The return to form of Jones and Taylor— both of whom struggled to lay bat on ball through the ODI series— will come as a big boost to England.



"The warm-up at Millfield was ideal. We saw batters get runs and spend time in the middle and the bowlers performed well to bowl out the opposition twice on a flat one. We're raring to go again to get back into the Ashes,” Knight added.



Katherine Brunt, who rolled her ankle in the second ODI and Leicester, has recovered fully and is also part of the squad. She will lead a strong attack comprising Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross, Laura Marsh, Sophie Ecclestone, Gordon and Sciver.



England squad:Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Kirstie Gordon, Amy Jones, Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Lauren Winfield, Sarah Taylor (wicketkeeper).