McCullum expects few shocks as England finalises Ashes squad

England head coach Brendon McCullum said he expects the meeting to finalise the touring party for the Ashes to be short, with the bulk of the group settled and only a few roles left to finesse ahead of the squad announcement later this month.

The 17-player group for the tour of Australia, which begins in Perth on Nov. 21, is due to be revealed in the week commencing Sept. 22, McCullum told Test Match Special. He said the main area for discussion is the backup spinner behind first-choice Shoaib Bashir, while most other places are clear.

"We need to have a little bit of communication around that, work out exactly what that role is, where we see there may be an opportunity," McCullum said, referring to the potential second-spinner role. "It may only be in one Test, or if something happens to Shoaib Bashir. We need to finesse that a little bit. Outside of that, I'd say we're pretty certain of what we want."

McCullum indicated leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is the favourite for the backup role, though left-armer Liam Dawson was included in the squad for the final two Tests at home against India. The coach confirmed England are unlikely to take a specialist backup wicketkeeper to support Jamie Smith, with Ollie Pope able to deputise if required.

The head coach also said England could take as many as seven specialist seamers to Australia, which would push the touring party to 17 players. Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue are expected to be included, with Matthew Potts and another pace option also under consideration.

England’s final home match of the summer, the deciding T20 against South Africa in Nottingham, was abandoned without a ball bowled, leaving that series 1-1. A much-changed England squad now travels to Dublin for three T20s against Ireland beginning Wednesday; McCullum will not travel with that party and assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will take charge. The Ashes squad will be announced the week after the Ireland series concludes.

McCullum confirmed that an England Lions team will join the touring party in Australia to provide reinforcements and act as opposition in the only pre-Ashes warm-up match. Some Test players could also be involved in England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand as part of their Ashes preparation.

The head coach said the management will continue to consider leadership options. Pope has served as Ben Stokes’ vice-captain and led the side in five Tests, while Harry Brook, who has become England’s white-ball captain this summer, is seen as an emerging leader. "You're always looking at things, right? ... It's no secret that Harry Brook is emerging as a leader within English cricket," McCullum said, adding the role will be worked on ahead of the tour.

Stokes is recovering from a shoulder injury that kept him out of the final Test against India and has not been able to complete any of England’s past four Test series in full. McCullum said Stokes is "progressing well" but stressed the side has contingency plans should the captain be unavailable during the long tour.

Final confirmation of the coaching staff for the Ashes was also pending. McCullum said James Anderson and Tim Southee, who have both helped as fast-bowling consultants since Anderson’s retirement, will not be available for the Australia tour. "There's a couple of guys I'm talking to at the moment," he said, adding that he hoped to confirm one of them soon.