In the aftermath of their 199-run defeat in the Headingley Test came the confirmation that England have begun a generational shift in one-day cricket with a view to winning the 2019 World Cup on home soil, dropping six players from their miserable winter for the series with New Zealand.
Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ian Bell are the main casualties of the party who performed so poorly at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand at the start of the year – a campaign that saw them fail to reach the knockout stages and contributed to both the head coach Peter Moores and the managing director Paul Downton losing their jobs.
England have instead turned to youth in a 14-man squad under the captain Eoin Morgan. Director of cricket Andrew Strauss – whose position replaced that of Downton’s at the start of May – has been set the target of ensuring the one-day side challenges for the World Cup in four years time and the Champions Trophy that precedes it in 2017, both of which are being played in England.
In naming the squad for the five-match series against Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand – the first of which is being played at Edgbaston on 9 June – national selector James Whitaker included the caveat that all-rounder Moeen Ali is being rested before returning to red-ball cricket ahead of the Ashes series that begins in July.
But no such explanation was offered for the absence of current Test players Bell, Broad, Anderson and Gary Ballance, meaning they have simply been dropped from the set-up. “It is important to point out that none of these players have been ruled out of playing a role for England in limited overs formats in the future,” said Whitaker.
“This squad allows us to look at a group of players who have performed well both at county and England Lions level in recent years,” Whitaker added. “This series presents an excellent opportunity to look at players we believe can play a key role for England over the next four years as we build towards the next ICC Cricket World Cup.”
“You only have to look at the past few months we have had in one-day cricket to know we needed to look at other players,” said interim head coach Paul Farbrace. “These are people that need a really good go. We do need to move our one-day said forward and there is no better side to play than the Kiwis.”
Joining that quartet on the sidelines from the World Cup squad are all-rounder Ravi Bopara and spinner James Tredwell, while seamer Chris Woakes is still recovering from a knee injury. Ben Stokes, who missed out on selection for that disastrous tournament following a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas, has been recalled following a flying start to the summer that saw him light up the Lord’s Test with a stunning 85-ball century in the second innings.
From the development squad used for last month’s abandoned ODI against Ireland in Dublin, fast bowler Mark Wood is retained along with the Northamptonshire all-rounder David Willey, the Surrey opener Jason Roy and the Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings, the latter being the only uncapped player in the squad. Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow, who kept wicket in Dublin, has been overlooked.
Farbrace will continue as the interim head coach for the one-dayers and the one-off Twenty20 that follows, with Moores’ long-term replacement Trevor Bayliss – who officially starts his role at the end of the month – hoping to join the management team at the back end of the series in an observational capacity.
England one-day squad Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wkt), Sam Billings (wkt), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, David Willey, Mark Wood
