Ashes: Brendon McCullum says England selection meeting will be ‘short’

England’s meeting to select an Ashes squad will be “short”, according to head coach Brendon McCullum.

The group for the tour of Australia, beginning in November, is due to be announced in the week commencing 22 September.

England’s group is settled, with discussion probably only around the second spinner behind first-choice Shoaib Bashir.

“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 told Test Match Special.

“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.”

England’s final match of the home summer, the deciding T20 against South Africa, was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Nottingham. The no-result left the series drawn at 1-1.

A much-changed England squad now travels to Dublin for three T20s against Ireland, beginning on Wednesday. New Zealander McCullum will skip that series, leaving assistant Marcus Trescothick in charge.

After the Ireland series concludes next Sunday, the squad for the tour of Australia will be revealed in the following week.

McCullum confirmed England will not take a specialist back-up wicketkeeper to Jamie Smith, with Ollie Pope able to deputise behind the stumps if needed.

The head coach also said England could take as many as seven specialist seamers, meaning the squad would include 17 players.

Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue are all set to be included, possibly alongside Matthew Potts and one other pace bowler.

Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed would be favourite to secure the role as Bashir’s back-up, though left-armer Liam Dawson was in the squad for the final two Tests against India this summer.

“It’s a pretty easy squad to pick really,” said McCullum. “It’s pretty settled.

“It’s a long time, this tour. There are a lot of breaks between Tests, which we’ll have to manage as best we can. Make sure guys can dip in and dip out of the intensity and spotlight, and still be able to enjoy themselves.

“There is lots to look forward to. There is lots of preparation that has gone into it. Now it’s time to get it on.”