Published: Jan 08, 2018, 12:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 08, 2018, 12:53 PM (IST)
England Cricket Board (ECB) announced their T20I squad for the tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, who played all the Ashes Test, have been rested for the T20I series. However, they will be a part of the ODI series. Ben Stokes has been named in the squad for now.
Stokes is waiting for a green signal for the charges of the Bristol street-brawl in September. Stokes played no part in the Ashes series, and was replaced by Dawid Malan in the ODI squad.
James Vince, who was one of the few star performers in the Ashes for England, has been included in the squad along with Mark Wood and Sam Billings. Eoin Morgan will lead the T20I side.
Along with Vince, other players from the Ashes to be included in the T20I squad are Joe Root, Malan and Tom Curran.
“The T20 Tri-Series will be very competitive against quality opposition in Australia and New Zealand,” chairman of selectors James Whitaker said.
“Our limited overs cricket has been progressing nicely across both formats so this tournament will be another indicator on where we are heading as a team over the long-term. “
England are currently ranked fourth in ICC T20I Rankings. They were the runners-up in the last T20I World Cup in 2016. Whitaker wants England to be the best T20I side in the world and giving exposure to Root and Malan will help the team.
‘Aim is to become the best’
“Our aim is to become the best T20 side in the world and a strong performance in this series will give us the chance to progress up the team rankings.
“We felt with that it was important for Dawid Malan and Joe Root, who have had an intense period of Test cricket over the past few months, to play in the series and continue to develop their T20 experience and skills,” he added.
England will play their first match against Australia on February 7 at Blundstone Arena.
England squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood
