A new-look England white-ball team is upon us. No Jonny Bairstow, no Moeen Ali, no Sam Curran (in ODIs), and no Chris Jordan as England Cricket Board (ECB) announces white-ball squads for the upcoming 3 T20Is and 5 ODIs against arch-rivals Australia.
Major names dropped, 5 debutants
While England are currently hosting Sri Lanka for a three-match Test series, Australia will travel to UK right after. In fact, the third Test against Sri Lanka has its 5th Day on September 10 and on the very next day it is the first T20I between ENG and AUS. This will also mark as Marcus Trescothick’s first assignment as England’s white-ball head coach after taking reigns from Matthew Mott.
Bairstow deservedly dropped?
Two huge names missing out are of Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow. It looks like age might be a factor for England to drop them as Moeen turned 37 two months earlier, while Bairstow will turn 35 next month. It is more agony for Bairstow, who has been dropped from the Test team as well. Regardless, the wicket-keeper batter has no one but himself to blame as he averages 29.68 across all formats since 2023. Even Dawid Malan, who last represented England in 2023, has scored more runs than Bairstow in this period.
The five debutants named in the two squads are Josh Hull, who also replaced Mark Wood in the ongoing Test series vs SL, all-rounder Jacob Bethell and pace bowler John Turner. These three are selected in both formats. Meanwhile, Dan Mousley and Jordan Cox come into the T20 reckoning.
England squad for ENG vs AUS series
England Men’s T20I Squad:
Jos Buttler (Captain), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner
England Men’s ODI Squad:
Jos Buttler (Captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, John Turner