Today ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) announced limited-over squad (both ODIs and T20Is) for the upcoming tour in South Africa.
Eoin Morgan remains the captain in the both limited overs format. From the last squad in the UAE tour, Liam Plunkett has been dropped from the both squad; while Sam Billings has been dropped from the ODIs and Stephen Parry has been dropped from the T20Is. Steven Finn and Ben Stokes will be making a comeback in the both limited over squads. Finn and Stokes both were left out from the squad in the past due to injuries.
Stuart Broad again has been omitted from the limited-over format, though he is in the Test squad which was selected at earlier this month. Stuart Broad has not represented his national side in the limited over format after the 2015 ICC WC.
England head coach Trevor Bayliss said that Broad is not finished yet. Broad has the chance to play in World T20 2016 in India. He said, “I’m sure he’ll be spoken about. It would be good to have experience, especially in India. But we did pick this squad sort of thinking well, these guys have done well for us over the last little bit, let’s stick with them a little bit longer and see which ones make a real go of it.
Trevor Bayliss added, “I think going forward we will need some experience in the team; Broady certainly wants to play and the selectors certainly want him to be available for selection. On this occasion it was one of those things – let’s give these other guys a bit more of an opportunity. Stuart’s always there in the background with some big tournaments coming up in the next year or two and I’m sure he’ll play more ODI cricket for England.”
Also, Liam Plunket impressed in the recently concluded tour in UAE, but surprisingly he has been left out from all the squad in the South Africa tour.
Bayliss commented about Plunket’s omission, “Plunkett was very close to selection. It was one of those things: Ben Stokes came back, so someone’s obviously got to miss out unfortunately and on this occasion Liam was the one. But it was a long chat. The good thing with success is that there are a lot of guys putting their hand up and wanting to be in this team. Liam is very unlucky to miss out on this one.”
After the ICC 2015 World Cup, England’s limited over performances were very impressive. They recently beat Pakistan in both the limited-over series in UAE. England remained unbeaten in the T20 matches in this year and their ODI performances were also very good after the 2015 ICC WC. So, ECB showed their faith in the new players rather than experience.
England will play 5 ODIs and 2 T20Is in the South Africa tour from 3rd February, 2016. The limited over formats will be held after the four Test matches.
ODIs squad: – Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes
T20Is squad:- Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, James Vince