For a while, it seemed the big story behind every England squad announcement was who was not in it. There always seemed to be big names missing, either because of injury – quite often involving a certain Barbados-born bowler – or poor form. But the tide appears to have turned and if England’s recent white-ball performances have not all provoked great optimism their squads are starting to do so.
After Jofra Archer thrillingly returning for the trip to South Africa, the group for the six-game tour of Bangladesh that departs at the end of this month, announced on Thursday, includes another long-term absentee. Saqib Mahmood, like Archer, has recovered from a stress fracture of the spine.
Rehan Ahmed’s lightning ascent continues: the 18-year-old’s fourth first-class game was a Test match and in all likelihood his eighth 50-over match, and his 15th T20 (or the 20th if you count the Hundred, which logic suggests you shouldn’t but the ICC insists you must) will also be an international.
Ahmed has been touted as Adil Rashid’s long-term successor and in Mirpur and Chittagong, on pitches likely to prove helpful, the pair will get a chance to work together. For the sake of England’s future they cannot spend too much time in each other’s company. He already has a Test five-for to his name, but Ahmed is still all potential, his inexperience such that in senior 50-over competitions he has bowled the equivalent of 55 overs. Rashid, England’s established first-choice white-ball leg-spinner, has bowled 30 in the past week.
There are still absentees, which explain a first senior call-up for the 28-year-old Tom Abell, the Somerset captain who is leading the England Lions ODI team in Sri Lanka. Even without significant injuries the dizzying complexity of England’s schedule means fielding a full-strength side takes more good fortune than a boundary-straddling relay-catch. The first of the ODIs will be played two days after the scheduled conclusion of their Test series in New Zealand, which rules out Olly Stone and Harry Brook, even if Will Jacks will race to Bangladesh in time for the three T20s that follow.
ODI squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
IT20 squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Several fringe players have found the more lucrative appeal of the Pakistan Super League irresistible, which is why Sam Billings and Liam Dawson, regulars in England’s white-ball squads but not so often in their actual teams, will be turning out for Lahore Qalandars. Tymal Mills and Richard Gleeson, who were involved in the T20 World Cup, have made similar decisions, though given the return of Mark Wood – who was rested for the South Africa and New Zealand tours – and Chris Jordan’s involvement in the three T20s, England’s bowling stocks seem strong.
The absence of Alex Hales feels more significant. With Jason Roy still to fully emerge from a long-term form slump and Jonny Bairstow recovering from injury this series presented an opportunity for the 34-year-old to stake a claim at the top of the ODI order in a World Cup year.
When asked about that possibility during last year’s T20 World Cup he said “my focus is on this tournament and the T20 franchise circuit” and it turns out he wasn’t kidding, so he will play for Islamabad United instead. Soon afterwards, Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball coach, said there was “absolutely no reason why he couldn’t get in that 50-over team”, but Hales is not making it easy. After this England’s next ODI is in September, not long before they leave for the World Cup. If Hales has designs on a place in that squad he is cutting it fine.
James Vince and Phil Salt get chances to audition instead and the sense is that where once dealing with absentees of this stature may have been a knockout blow, this England can roll with the punches.
