Stuart Broad has been assured he remains part of England’s plans in limited overs cricket despite the one-day and Twenty20 squads named to face South Africa in February representing his latest omission from the white-ball set-up.
The fast bowler, who has 177 wickets in one-day international cricket, has not featured for his country in coloured clothing since the 2015 World Cup but has made it known to the team management that, at 29, he is not ready to be considered a Test specialist.
Since that failed campaign at the start of the year, in which England were knocked out in the group stages under the former head coach Peter Moores, the selectors have given youth a chance, with Broad’s new ball partner in Test cricket, Jimmy Anderson, also overlooked.
While Broad appears an outside bet for the World Twenty20 in India in March, despite being England’s leading wicket-taker in the format, Trevor Bayliss expects him to re-enter plans from next summer when thoughts turn to the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup, both of which are on home soil.
In the meantime Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan will be given more exposure in limited-overs cricket and are all included, along with Steven Finn, who will lead the attack in the five one-dayers and two Twenty20s that follow the Test series with South Africa.
“Broady wants to play and the selectors want him available going forward; I think we will need experience in the team. But on this occasion, we thought to give the young guys another opportunity,” Bayliss said. “Stuart is always there in the background and with big tournaments in the next year or two, I’m sure he’ll play more one-day cricket for England.”
Asked about his World T20 chances, he added: “I’m sure he’ll be spoken about and it would be good to have experience in India. But we thought these guys have done well, let’s stick with them and see where they go with it.
The Yorkshire fast bowler Liam Plunkett will probably feel aggrieved at being overlooked for both squads in South Africa, having taken six wickets in two Twenty20s against Pakistan last month and bowled at a hostile pace; Bayliss admits it was a tough call and made due to the return of the all-rounder Ben Stokes.
“Stokes comes back and someone misses out, and on this occasion Liam was the one. It was a long chat. The good thing with success there is a lot of guys putting their hands up for selection. Liam is very unlucky to miss out,” Bayliss said.
Jonny Bairstow, the wicketkeeper in the Test side, is given another one-day international opportunity in place of Kent’s Sam Billings, who has been retained in the Twenty20 set-up. The Lancashire spinner Stephen Parry, who featured against Pakistan, drops out.
England ODI squad E Morgan (capt), M Ali, J Bairstow, J Buttler, S Finn, A Hales, C Jordan, A Rashid, J Root, J Roy, B Stokes, J Taylor, R Topley, D Willey, C Woakes.
England T20 squad E Morgan (capt), M Ali, S Billings, J Buttler, S Finn, A Hales, C Jordan, A Rashid, J Root, J Roy, B Stokes, R Topley, D Willey, C Woakes, J Vince.
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