James Taylor insisted England must move on from – but not forget – their abysmal World Cup after it was announced that the Nottinghamshire batsman will become their 32nd one-day captain for the one-off international against Ireland in Dublin on 8 May.
With a host of senior players rested for a fixture that comes just three days after the third Test against West Indies, and as the incumbent captain Eoin Morgan spends time watching, if not playing, in the Indian Premier League, Taylor has been put in charge of a youthful squad that features six who are uncapped at one-day level.
But while Taylor admits the stand-in nature of his promotion is not quite the same buzz as getting the captaincy full-time, the 25-year-old is relishing the prospect of starting the rebuilding job required after a failed campaign in Australia and New Zealand that saw England exit at the group stage after losing all four matches against their fellow full-member sides.
“To be given the opportunity to lead your country is a huge honour. Obviously the circumstances mean that this is slightly different, with Morgs at the IPL and the other lads in the West Indies,” admitted Taylor. “So I doubt it’s quite the same feeling as it would be if I was ‘the one’, if you know what I mean. But never mind that, it was still a huge thrill to hear that I’d been chosen.
“We have to put the World Cup behind us – not ignore it, but learn from what went on, and put it to bed. This is a fresh start – it has to be a fresh start. I know people are talking about the next World Cup in 2019, and obviously that’s something that every English cricketer would want to experience with it being on home soil. But I actually think that’s looking too far ahead.”
Just 11 names were included in the party on Tuesday afternoon, with current Caribbean tourists Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett possibilities to fly back across the Atlantic early should they continue to overlooked when the Test side is selected in Barbados this Friday.
Following a World Cup that was dominated by the bat, the selectors have opted for power at the top of the order in Surrey’s aggressive right-hander Jason Roy, who has one Twenty20 cap to date and is now expected to open alongside Alex Hales.
The Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings is another call-up with a nod to the future, having shone in last season’s Royal London Cup where he averaged 114, with a strike-rate of 145, and will compete with Jonny Bairstow for the gloves.
They are joined by Hampshire’s limited-overs captain James Vince and Surrey’s spin-bowling all-rounder Zafar Ansari, who took four wickets against Essex at The Oval on Tuesday but ran himself out for a fourth-ball duck in the second innings.
The hard-hitting Northamptonshire all-rounder David Willey celebrated his selection by bludgeoning a 43-ball half-century against Leicestershire and will provide England with a left-arm option with the ball, while Somerset’s seamer Lewis Gregory, who himself claimed six for 101 against Middlesex, is another rewarded for early-season form.
There is experience too, with Tim Bresnan earning his first England limited overs call since the 2014 World Twenty20, and Steven Finn retained from the World Cup squad despite being dropped four games into that doomed tournament after going at nearly seven runs an over.
England squad
J Taylor (capt, Nottinghamshire), Z Ansari (Surrey), J Bairstow (wkt, Yorkshire), S Billings (Kent), T Bresnan (Yorkshire), S Finn (Middlesex), L Gregory (Somerset), A Hales (Nottinghamshire), J Roy (Surrey), J Vince (Hampshire), D Willey (Northamptonshire).England squad: J Taylor (capt, Nottinghamshire), Z Ansari (Surrey), J Bairstow (wkt, Yorkshire), S Billings (Kent), T Bresnan (Yorkshire), S Finn (Middlesex), L Gregory (Somerset), A Hales (Nottinghamshire), J Roy (Surrey), J Vince (Hampshire), D Willey (Northamptonshire)
