England has named their limited-overs squads for the men’s white-ball tour of South Africa as they embark on their first overseas tour during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Selectors have gone with a full-strength party for the Twenty20 series. However, the decision has been taken to rest Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes for the ODIs following their exploits in the Indian Premier League. They will return home once the three T20 matches have been completed, while Jos Buttler, who also played in the competition, will play both formats.
Perhaps most notable is the absence of Joe Root from the 15-man T20 squad, another blow for his hopes of making next year’s T20 World Cup in India. Since the last edition in 2016, he has played just 12 of England’s 36 matches in the format, while continuing to be a limited presence in domestic competitions because of his roles as Test captain and ODI batsman.
Root is one of five players along with Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Lewis Gregory and Liam Livingstone who feature exclusively in the ODI squad. Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan are two who are down just for the T20s. All in all, England are taking 23 players, including Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Tom Banton and uncapped Tom Helm (Middlesex) as reserves across both formats.
The three Twenty20s and three one-day internationals will be South Africa’s first taste of international cricket since the game was brought to a global standstill in March because of coronavirus. The matches will take place in bio-secure environments at Newlands, Cape Town, and Boland Park, Paarl. Following the completion of the series, England will fly back from Cape Town to London on 10 December.
England men’s IT20 squad
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).
England men’s ODI squad
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
