Josh Tongue has been added to the England men's Test squad to face Ireland.
The Worcestershire seamer is drafted in after injury concerns over James Anderson and Ollie Robinson left England with just four fast bowling options for the opening Test of the summer beginning at Lord's on June 1.
The 25-year-old Tongue has been on England's radar and toured Sri Lanka with the England Lions in February. He impressed in the second unofficial Test, taking 5 for 34 and 3 for 77 against Sri Lanka A.
Though his red ball experience has been limited recently, he has begun the 2023 season with 11 wickets in Division Two of the Championship. One of those against Sussex saw him become the first English bowler to dismiss Steve Smith this summer, trapping the Australian lbw for 30.
Having come through the pathway at New Road, he has shown good pace and bounce and will join the Test squad for their camp this weekend. With Robinson, Anderson and Mark Wood due to sit out the Ireland Test to preserve their fitness for the upcoming Ashes series, Tongue could be an outside shot for a maiden cap next week.
Luke Wright, England Men's National Selector, said: "We have been monitoring Josh for quite some time and he deserves this call-up to the Test squad. It will be a great experience for him to understand and get used to the environment under Ben [Stokes] and Brendon [McCullum].
"It is important to have players ready to respond and with a big summer of Test cricket coming up, we will need that depth to our squad. We wish Josh and the rest of the squad well for the first international of the campaign."