England’s bowlers need to show “more leadership” against West Indies in the absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, says interim managing director Andrew Strauss.
Anderson, 39, and Broad, 35, were left out of the squad for the three-Test tour of the West Indies in March.
They are England’s top two leading wicket-takers in Tests, with 1,177 dismissals combined.
“This is an opportunity to refresh and look forward,” Strauss told BBC Sport.
“We’ve brought some new blood into the bowling resources.
“But we’re also asking some of our existing bowlers to play a slightly different role to the one they’ve played before and show a bit more leadership.”
Lancashire fast bowler Saqib Mahmood and leg-spinner Matt Parkinson could make their Test debuts in the Caribbean, while Yorkshire seamer Matthew Fisher has been included in a Test squad for the first time.
Seamer Chris Woakes is the most experienced bowler in the squad, with 42 Test caps, followed by fast bowler Mark Wood (25), slow left-armer Jack Leach (19) and seamers Ollie Robinson (nine) and Craig Overton (six). All-rounder Ben Stokes has 76 Test appearances.
Anderson is England’s most-capped Test cricketer, with 169 appearances, while Broad is third on 152.
Strauss denied Anderson and Broad’s status could be intimidating to younger players and captain Joe Root.
“They’ve earned the right to have that stature,” he said.
“But we also have to think that there is life beyond them as well and we need to develop some of the other bowlers and allow them to play more of a leadership role, rather than just a followership role.”
Following the 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia, England head coach Chris Silverwood, director of cricket Ashley Giles and assistant coach Graham Thorpe all left their roles.
Strauss has temporarily taken over from Giles and he has appointed Paul Collingwood as England’s interim head coach for the West Indies tour.
“No-one is saying Broad and Anderson won’t feature this summer and beyond,” added Strauss.
“My job is to give the new director of cricket and coach options from which to pick and we can learn more about the options we do have on this tour.
“The new coach and director of cricket will look at selection for the summer and Broad and Anderson will be very much in the mix.”
England will arrive in Antigua on 25 February and play a four-day warm-up match starting on 1 March followed by three Tests.
The first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua starts on 8 March.
England’s first Test at home this summer is against world champions New Zealand at Lord’s, starting on 2 June.
Root to bat at three
England’s batting woes in recent years reached a new low in Australia as they failed to pass 200 in six of their 10 innings and did not make more than 300 at all.
Openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed have been dropped, as has number three Dawid Malan.
Uncapped Durham batter Alex Lees is set to open against West Indies alongside Zak Crawley, while Strauss said Root will bat at three after asking to do so.
Root averages 38.66 in 53 innings, with two centuries, at three – compared to 51.27 in 106 innings, with 14 tons, at his usual position of four.
“A lot of our batting problems have come at the top of the order,” said Strauss.
“Alex Lees comes in as a mature cricketer who knows his game well and it’s an opportunity for him to stake his claim with Zak Crawley.
“Joe Root has said very categorically that he wants to bat at three and take that responsibility on.
“That’s quite a fundamental shift in itself and creates a bit of space in the middle order for some of the less experienced players to play better and more consistently.”
England squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire) captain, Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Alex Lees (Durham), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Fixtures
1-4 Tour match (opponents TBC)
8-12 1st Test, Antigua (14:00 GMT)
16-20 2nd Test, Barbados (14:00 GMT)
24-28 3rd Test, Grenada (14:00 GMT/15:00 BST)
