Jonny Bairstow dropped as England name their squad for first 2 Tests against West Indies

With England's Test summer set to get underway, the selection panel has unveiled the squad for the first two out of three Tests against the West Indies, which begins on July 10 at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Jonny Bairstow has been dropped from the squad, with two uncapped players in Jamie Smith and Dillon Pennington being included.

Bairstow had a lean India tour with a high score of 39 across five Tests as England lost the series 4-1. With England also leaving out Ben Foakes, they have selected Smith as their keeper for the series.

Smith, who plies his trade for Surrey, has helped them secure a top spot with 507 runs in 8 matches at 50.70 with a century and four fifties. Overall, the 23-year-old averages 40.80 in 58 first-class fixtures and made his ODI debut last summer against Ireland.

Dillon Pennington, a right-arm seamer, has earned a call-up after an excellent showing for Nottinghamshire with 29 scalps in seven matches. The 25-year-old has bagged 169 scalps in 52 first-class matches at 27.26 with two fifers.

Speedster Gus Atkinson, who was part of the squad to tour India earlier this year, is the only other uncapped player.

The series also sees the return of Chris Woakes, who missed all of the recent action due to the death of his father. The veteran seamer returned to first-class cricket as he eyes a prolific summer.

Harry Brook is also back after pulling out of the India tour last minute following his grandmother's demise. The notable absentees are Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Mark Wood.

Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson (First Test only), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes.

Robert Key wishes James Anderson luck ahead of his final England outing

With James Anderson set to play his 188th and final Test at Lords, England's men's cricket's managing director Robert Key asserted that the major focus will be on him. He said, as quoted by ecb.co.uk:

"The first Test of the summer is always a special moment, but it will be extra poignant with it being Jimmy’s (Anderson) last Test before he retires. He has given everything to the sport since his Test debut in 2003.

"We all would like to wish him well as he walks out at Lord’s for the last time for England. We are looking forward to getting the season underway against a strong West Indies side in what will be an excellent Test series."

Nottingham and Birmingham will host the second and third Tests, respectively.