SKY Sports pundit and former England coach David Lloyd believes Craig Overton should make his international debut in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane at the end of the month.

The 23-year-old flew out with the rest of the squad over the weekend and is now preparing for the first warm-up match against a WACA XI in Perth on Sunday morning (2.30am).

The first Test starts in Brisbane on November 23 and, speaking to 'The Cricket Paper' as part of the build-up to the eagerly-awaited 2017/18 series, Lloyd said: "Without Stokes, this is a golden opportunity for a young gun like Craig Overton, expected to carry the drinks, to be catapulted right into the fray.

"He’s a good kid and a strapping lad who doesn’t overthink things and I like that. Picking him would mean England bat down to nine."

Lloyd, who played nine Tests for his country between 1974 and 1975, was the only member of the six-man panel to select Overton in his side for the opener.

Dominic Cork was less complimentary, saying: "I’ve picked four seamers including Jake Ball. You can’t chuck in Craig Overton with no international experience on the first day of an Ashes series."

Overton is battling it out with Nottinghamshire's Jake Ball and Middlesex's Steven Finn, both of whom have Test experience, for a place as the fourth seamer should England replace the currently absent Stokes with a bowler rather than packing the middle order.