Uncapped Pope, Turner and Tongue in England white-ball squads for Caribbean tour

November 12, 2023

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Barely 12 hours after ending their dismal World Cup campaign with a 93-run win over Pakistan, England named fresh ODI and T20I squads lfor a tour to the Caribbean in December. The bilateral touring schedule waits for nobody.

Jos Buttler has been retained as captain in both white-ball formats. He is one of only six players from the World Cup squad who will feature in the three ODIs against West Indies from December 3-9. The other five are: Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.

There are several new faces in the ODI squad, including a core of players who featured in the second-string squad that played Ireland in late September. Three players without an ODI cap are included: Ollie Pope, John Turner and Josh Tongue. Pope, who is returning from a shoulder injury, is preferred to Sam Hain – a surprise exclusion after an impressive debut against Ireland.

England will also play five T20Is on the tour from December 12-21, which form part of their preparation for June’s T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean. Moeen Ali, the oldest player in their ODI World Cup squad, has retained his T20I spot but England have moved on from Dawid Malan in that format, at least for the time being.

Rob Key and Luke Wright, England’s managing director and selector, returned to India this week ahead of their final group game in Kolkata. They picked the squads for this tour before the Pakistan match in conjunction with Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott who, like Buttler, has been backed to turn England’s fortunes around.

After the Caribbean tour, England will not play another ODI until September 2024 and have not made final decisions of the 50-over futures of several senior players. “I don’t think I’m ever really getting to the point where you’re going to absolutely say that people are done completely,” Key said.

Several multi-format players have been given a break before the Test tour of India early next year, and England always anticipated making a substantial number of changes for this tour. “We knew, regardless of what happened in this World Cup, that the Champions Trophy was two years away,” Key said. “You always thought, ‘well, there’s going to be a different way to go.'”

But England’s Test top three – Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Pope – are all included in the ODI squad, and will be given opportunities in the middle order. Will Jacks and Phil Salt, who both missed out on central contracts for 2023-24, feature in both squads: “They’re the first ones to have a crack at it,” Key said.

England have picked a new generation of seamers in their ODI squad. “To have a great era of English cricket, so much is going to depend on those bowlers coming through,” Key said, citing Atkinson, Tongue, Carse, Turner and Matthew Potts, who does not feature in either squad. “We’ve taken a bet that they’re the ones that we’re going to invest in.”

Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Reece Topley and Moeen are all part of the T20I squad, but Malan has been dropped. He was England’s top-scorer at this World Cup but his T20I numbers have dipped – he averages 29.68 with a strike rate of 124.38 in the last 18 months – and he was dropped by his Hundred team, Trent Rockets, earlier this year.

“His form over the last year, that’s the reason why he’s not there,” Key explained. “If you told me, 100 percent, that Dawid Malan is not going to play in the T20 World Cup, I’d say, ‘absolutely not.’ He’s got every opportunity to get there: he’s just got to show us he can get back to [being] the player he was.”

Chris Jordan, England’s second-highest T20I wicket-taker, does not feature and will instead play for Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL. Instead, there is a recall for Tymal Mills, the left-arm fast bowler, who last played in July 2022 but was the leading wicket-taker in the Hundred last season.

Jofra Archer, who has a two-year central contract, does not feature in either squad. He flew to Mumbai earlier in the World Cup to continue his rehabilitation from an elbow injury, but returned home shortly after and was not deemed fit enough to come in as a replacement when Topley broke his finger.

ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, John Turner

T20I squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, John Turner, Chris Woakes

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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Uncapped Pope, Turner and Tongue in England white-ball squads for Caribbean tour

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