Ben Stokes included in England squad for ODI series against Pakistan
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:16 PM
Star allrounder Ben Stokes and pacer Mark Wood have been included in England’s one-day international squad for the series against Pakistan, which starts next Wednesday at Southampton.
While Stokes is still recovering from a calf injury that ruled him out of the last two Tests against Pakistan, Wood returns to the squad after two operations on his chronic left ankle.
“Ben’s made really significant progress over the last three weeks and our medical team are pleased,” James Whitaker, the national selector, said. “He’s progressing nicely towards bowling over the next week or so, and while we hope that initially, he might just play as a batter he will lead into the series as an all-rounder eventually.
“He’s worked really hard on his rehab and it’s given everyone a lot of confidence. To have him around again will be a huge bonus for Eoin Morgan and his team.
“Mark Wood has had a couple of operations, and with his hard work and advice from our medical team, he’s now able to take part in this series. Just over the last month, he’s progressed very well and we’re very happy for him. We got him back into the Lions initially, he’d just played a couple of games for Durham before, and he played really well for the Lions and he’s continued that form since.”
Meanwhile, middle-order batsman James Vince has been axed from the team after his poor batting display in the Test series.
Two other players who are recovering from injuries – Jos Buttler, who fractured a thumb five weeks ago, and captain Eoin Morgan, who chipped a little finger bone- are also expected to get the fit just in time to feature in the series.
Pakistan tour will be concluded after playing a one-off T20I in Manchester after the ODI series.
England squad:
Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.