James Anderson is left out of England's opening Ashes Test match with Australia, while Ollie Pope gets the nod in the middle order.

James Anderson has been left out of England's 12-man squad for the opening Ashes Test match with Australia.

The 39-year-old, who had never been regarded as a certain starter in Brisbane, has been carrying a minor calf injury during the early weeks of the trip down under.

However, England's decision is seemingly based on keeping the veteran fresh for the second match in Adelaide, which starts four days after the conclusion of the Brisbane contest.

Ollie Pope has also been given the nod in the middle order over Jonny Bairstow, the 23-year-old keeping his spot on the back of producing a knock of 81 in the final game with India in September.

While England are yet to confirm their starting XI, one of Mark Wood or Jack Leach are seemingly likely to miss out when the game gets underway on Wednesday.

England squad in full: Joe Root, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood body check tags ::

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