The only change in the 13-man England squad is the inclusion of talented wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler in place of Matt Prior, who has pulled out due to injury.
The ECB selection committee decided to retain Cook as captain with one of the reasons being lack of options. Former England captains like Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan, Bob Willis have openly criticised his style of captaincy with some of them calling for a change of options.
Buttler, the 23-year-old Somerset cricketer has already played 33 ODIs and 36 T20 Internationals for England but will be making his Test debut at the Ageas Bowl after Prior pulled out due to multiple injuries. But Prior's place was also under scanner as his form had gone downhill since Ashes.
Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.