June 2 (Reuters) - England ⁠announced their 12-player squad for the ⁠first test against New Zealand, which begins ‌at Lord's on Thursday.

Ben Stokes (captain), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Emilio ​Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, ⁠Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Josh ⁠Tongue.

• Shoaib Bashir has been picked as first-choice ⁠spinner ‌despite not featuring in the entire Ashes series.

• Ollie Robinson makes ⁠his return to the test squad for ​the first ‌time since February 2024 while spinner Rehan ⁠Ahmed has ​been dropped.

• Two uncapped players, top-order batsman Emilio Gay and fast bowler Sonny Baker, were ⁠included.

• Zak Crawley has been ​dropped following his poor performance during the Ashes while fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ⁠left out after featuring in the recent Indian Premier League.

• England are playing their first test series since losing the Ashes 4-1 ​to Australia.

• England are playing ⁠a three-test series against New Zealand with ​matches at The Oval and ‌Trent Bridge to follow ​later this month.

(Reporting by Paras J. Haji in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)