HULL KR hero Mikey Lewis is set to be handed a starting place for England’s opening Ashes clash against Australia at Wembley on Saturday.

The 24-year-old has been preferred to Wigan’s Harry Smith in head coach Shaun Wane’s trimmed-down 19-man squad for the first match in the three-test Series.

Lewis inspired Rovers to an historic domestic treble this season, culminating in a stunning try and the Rob Burrow man of the match award in the Super League Grand Final earlier this month.

Smith, who has started in every game for England since the 2022 World Cup, is one of five players — along with Leeds duo Harry Newman and Kallum Watkins, Rovers winger Joe Burgess and Canberra’s Morgan Smithies — not to make the cut.

Wane said: “We have a fantastic squad and whittling it down for the first Ashes Test match in 22 years wasn’t easy, but I am confident the players selected can challenge the Kangaroos this weekend.

“We’ve had two fantastic weeks in camp preparing and we are now in touching distance of what will be an historic fixture under the Wembley arch.”