England vs Ireland: Ben Stokes eagerly awaits Josh Tongue debut

The 25-year-old was named in the England test squad for the pre-Ashes warm-up test with Ireland at Lord's this week, starting on Thursday.

Tongue, who is a product of the Worcestershire CCC Academy, will make his debut in the match, having impressed through the winter with the England Lions squad out in Sri Lanka. 

Josh Tongue had a brilliant winter away with the England Lions squad (Image: Sri Lanka Cricket)

And now he will have the chance to prove he has what it takes on the biggest stage in front of his new captain, Ben Stokes. 

With the Ashes just around the corner, Stokes says that the opportunity to give Tongue a crack at the whip was one he "couldn't look past". 

"It was between Woakesy (Chris Woakes) and Tonguey for this game, the way we looked at it was everyone knows what Chris offers to the team in terms of all-round ability with ball and bat.

"We see this as an opportunity to give Josh Tongue an opportunity, not just to see what he can do but to see what his character is like and how he can influence the game in the role I see he would play if he played a few more games this summer.

"I think it was just a great opportunity and something we couldn’t look past."

Josh Tongue has been taking part in nets sessions with the England team this week (Image: PA)

"Tonguey has been someone who has been spoken about even since he first came on and played for Worcestershire. He is someone who possesses a bit more pace than most of the guys who have been spoken about as the next guys in line and he’s started off pretty well this year with Worcestershire.

"Having someone who is able to bowl with that extra pace, so he can come on and change the way the game is going and have that x-factor, is always great to have in your side.

"I am looking forward to getting him involved and watching him get his Test cap tomorrow."

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10AM on Thursday morning.