The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a 14-man squad for the Ashes training camp, which will take place in Spain ahead of the series that starts from 8 July.
The training camp is supposed to start from 27 June. ECB director Andrew Staruss has said that once these 14 players return from the training camp, ECB will announce the squad for The Ashes 2015-2016.
England skipper Alastair Cook, Strauss and new coach Trevor Bayliss have mutually decided to hold this training camp so that the players get well-acquainted with their head coach and his ideas.
"With Trevor Bayliss arriving in the country next Thursday, Trevor, Alastair and I felt it important that both players and management likely to be involved in the early stages of the Investec Ashes have chance to meet him and fully understand his approach prior to meeting up for the start of the Test series.
"With that in mind, we have arranged a preparation camp in Spain. This will involve a combination of physical and fielding sessions and planning meetings in an informal environment in order to provide the best possible lead up to the first Test in Cardiff. The squad for the first Test will be announced within a few of days of returning from the camp," Strauss told the official website of the ECB on Thursday.
England are currently playing a five-match ODI series against New Zealand in which they have drawn level after defeating the visitors in the fourth ODI by seven wickets. The fifth ODI has now become a final of sorts, whoever wins the match will win the series.
Meanwhile, the Australian team have already arrived in London for the Ashes series on Wednesday after they whitewashed West Indies 2-0 in the Caribbean islands.
Here's the England squad for pre-Ashes training camp:
Alastair Cook (c), Ian Bell, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn, Mark Footitt, Adam Lyth, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Mark Wood.
