England have announced a 14-man squad for their three-match ODI series against the Netherlands in June – we run through the key takeaways from the announcement.
Wood received his maiden call-up
Luke Wood is the new name in the set-up. The 26-year-old left-arm quick plies his trade with Lancashire and was their joint-leading wicket-taker in last year’s Blast, taking 13 wickets at 28.07. “Luke Wood deserves his call-up,” said new white-ball coach Matthew Mott. “He has been consistent for Lancashire over the past 12 months and we have been monitoring his progression. If given a chance to play, I’m sure he will make most of his opportunity.” Wood has played just four games of List A cricket.
Gloucestershire’s David Payne is the only other uncapped player in the squad, though this is not his first call-up; he was part of the ODI squad that took on Pakistan last year and toured the Caribbean at the start of this year with the T20I side.
All in with the left-armers
Wood and Payne are two of five left-arm quicks in the squad; Reece Topley, David Willey and Sam Curran are the other three. It is quite the contrast from the World Cup-winning squad of 2019, which featured no left-arm pace options. Curran is back in the England set-up for the first time since the stress fracture he suffered last year and has been bowling in the T20 Blast after playing primarily as a batter for Surrey’s red-ball side in the first block of the County Championship.
Brydon Carse is the only right-arm fast bowler included; he took a five-wicket haul against Pakistan last summer but saw his winter disrupted by a knee injury while with England Lions in Australia.
No rest for IPL stars
England have opted against resting any of their players who have been at the IPL. Jos Buttler, who spearheaded Rajasthan Royals’ run to the final, is set to play his first ODI since last March, while Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings) and Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings) are also in the squad. With no uncapped batters in the squad, England have opted against any experimentation in that department.
Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Joe Root are busy with the Test squad during the series – taking into account those absences and injuries elsewhere, this is perhaps as full-strength as England could have gone. Eoin Morgan leads the group.
A seal of approval for Salt
Of the batters in the squad, 25-year-old Salt is the youngest and could slot in as a replacement for Bairstow at the top of the order. The Lancashire right-hander has impressed in his few opportunities for England. He hit his runs at a strike rate of 117 against Pakistan last year as an opener and showed his flexibility by striking a quickfire half-century in the middle order on his T20I debut this January.
England have routinely showcased their batting depth in white-ball cricket over the last few years, so there are still significant names who have missed out on selection. There is no sight of Sam Billings, James Vince – who hit a century in his last ODI – and Tom Banton, who opened in the T20Is against West Indies at the start of the year. Salt appears to be the victor amongst the white-ball reserves.
Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey, Luke Wood
