England name unchanged 12-man squad for Leeds Test against Australia
Monday 19 August 2019 16:13, UK
Jason Roy and Joe Denly have retained their places in an unchanged England squad for the third Ashes Test at Headingley.
Roy and Denly have scored just 40 and 85 runs respectively in the series so far, which Australia still lead 1-0 after the second Test at Lord's ended in a draw on Sunday.
Sam Curran, not selected for last week's match, keeps his place in a 12-man party but James Anderson misses out as he continues to recover from a right calf injury
Anderson picked up the knock during England's 251-run defeat in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston and only bowled four overs in that match before sitting out the Lord's fixture.
The 36-year-old will play a three-day game for Lancashire's second XI from Tuesday and will be assessed on a daily basis ahead of the fourth Ashes Test at his home ground of Old Trafford from September 4.
The Headingley Test begins on Thursday with Australia knowing a victory will see them retain the Ashes as the holders would be two up with two to play, at Old Trafford and then at The Oval from September 12.
Steve Smith remains an injury doubt for the tourist after suffering a delayed concussion after being hit by Jofra Archer on day four at Lord's and missing day five on medical grounds.
The 30-year-old is "hopeful" of playing in Leeds but says he will be "monitored very closely for the next few days" before a decision is made.
England squad for third Ashes Test: Joe Root (captain), Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Joe Denly, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Sam Curran
Watch day one of the third Ashes Test between England and Australia, at Headingley, live on Sky Sports The Ashes (channel 404) and Main Event (channel 401) from 10am on Thursday.
You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
