Category: England National Cricket

• Opener may have played final game for England after decision
• England add Kohler-Cadmore to squad for Ireland ODIs

Jason Roy may have played his final game for England after turning down the chance to feature against Ireland in the last two one-day internationals of the summer.

Roy was dropped from the World Cup squad after a combination of back spasms and Dawid Malan’s glowing form saw him pushed out of the likely starting XI and Harry Brook take his place on the bench. But he still had the chance to prove his fitness for a possible standby berth during the ODIs at Trent Bridge this Saturday and Bristol three days later.

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Warwickshire batter has benefitted from a mid-career change in thinking and is finally part of a full England squad

If Jason Roy being squeezed out of England’s World Cup plans underlines the bottleneck of white-ball talent in the country then the same can be said about another player hoping to belatedly enter the stage this week.

No English player in history boasts a higher List A average Sam Hain’s current 57.96 – globally, only India’s Ruturaj Gaikwad sits above him on 60.3 – and over the past five years Warwickshire’s middle-order talisman has been a regular for the Lions, notching up four centuries for England’s second string along the way.

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• Batter ‘absolutely gutted’ following latest axing
• Archer travels to continue injury rehabilitation

Jason Roy is considering his international future after being dumped from an England World Cup squad at the 11th hour for the second time in a year. Roy could still appear in the World Cup should one of England’s opening batters suffer an injury – as he himself did during the T20 World Cup in 2021 – and is currently the first-choice reserve for those positions, but first he must decide how much he still wants to play for an international side that has twice dramatically discarded him.

Luke Wright, England men’s national selector, said Roy was “absolutely gutted” when informed by Jos Buttler that he had lost his place in the group of 15 that will be travelling to India later this month, but that the door for a return was still ajar.

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• Yorkshire batter called up for ODI tournament
• Roy has been suffering from back spasm injury

Jason Roy has been dropped from England’s World Cup squad after failing to play any of the four recent one-day internationals against New Zealand because of recurring back spasms, with Harry Brook – despite averaging just 12.33 in three innings across that series – drafted in to replace him.

While Brook has exploded on to the international scene over the last 18 months – he has played only six ODIs, the first of them in January – Roy has been a mainstay of England’s 50-overs team for over eight years. Since breaking into the side in 2015 he has played 116 of his country’s 139 ODIs, but for the second time in just over a year has lost his place in an England squad at the worst possible time: in the run-up to a World Cup.

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Dawid Malan’s fine performances against New Zealand have given Jos Buttler much to consider before flying to India

At the end of a convincing series win over New Zealand came an admission from Jos Buttler that an England squad previously thought to be locked and loaded for their defence of the 50-over World Cup may yet be tweaked before the departure lounge.

After Dawid Malan’s frictionless 127 set up a 100-run victory at Lord’s on Friday and with it a 3-1 scoreline, Buttler was asked if his mind was made up on the final 15 for India and if it was simply a case of informing the players. “No,” replied England’s white-ball captain, accepting there was still a little bit to ponder.

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• Stokes scored 182 against New Zealand on Wednesday
• ‘He’s an unbelievable cricketer … it’s great for our confidence’

Ben Stokes’ record-shattering innings in Wednesday’s ODI against New Zealand has been described by his teammate Chris Woakes as further evidence that he is “a superhuman who can do incredible things”.

Woakes said the 32-year-old was powered to his score of 182, the highest by an Englishman in the format, by the relief of playing without the burden of captaincy, and by the welcome he has received from England’s band of brothers, a squad largely unchanged from the one that won the World Cup with Stokes at its heart in 2019.

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• Fast bowler joins Oval session; could be World Cup reserve
• Flintoff recovering from Top Gear filming accident in December

The dream of seeing Jofra Archer play for England at the World Cup moved a step closer to reality on Tuesday as the 28-year-old bowled off a full run‑up in the Oval nets during the team’s preparations for the third one-day international against New Zealand.

Despite the fact that Archer has not played a competitive game since 6 May, and last took a wicket in April, England continue to hope he will be able to travel to India at the end of the month as one of three reserve players, and potentially play at some point in the tournament. He is not in the squad for the New Zealand series, nor for the three games against Ireland that follow it, but is edging closer to fitness after being ruled out of the English summer by the recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow.

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• Stokes says lure of winning another World Cup key to comeback
• Test captain has ‘good plan’ to treat knee injury after World Cup

Ben Stokes returns to the England ODI fold hopeful that his post-World Cup plans will solve the long-running saga of his left knee – leaving him free to continue his career as his country’s marquee all-rounder.

Stokes, who will play in the four-match series against New Zealand, starting on Friday, and the World Cup, purely as a batter, refused to be drawn on what exactly this would involve. “There will be a time I make clear what’s going on, but I don’t think now is the right time to do that,” he said, while speaking confidently of “a really good plan.”

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Excellent form of young batter forces selectors into a rethink and puts pressure on his international colleagues

The announcement last month that the squad selected for England’s one-day international series against New Zealand would also be the group travelling to India for the World Cup brought a measure of controversy and certainty. Communication at the time was crystal clear, with Luke Wright, the former England and Sussex all-rounder who was appointed as selector last November, saying: “This is the squad we’re going to put forward … Although it isn’t actually locked in officially until 28 September, this is the squad we’re going for.”

On Tuesday Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball coach, was playing a very different tune. He insisted: “We’ve always said it’s a provisional squad,” and that, far from being locked in, those picked for the New Zealand series had simply “got the first crack at it” in the knowledge “that there is someone ready to take their place if they don’t perform”.

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• Brook called up after shoulder injury to Jonny Bairstow
• Batter given chance to play his way into World Cup contention

Harry Brook has been added to England’s squad for the one-day international series against New Zealand, with the minor shoulder injury felt by Jonny Bairstow in the final T20 against the same opponents on Tuesday presenting him with three further opportunities to play his way into World Cup contention before the squad is finalised on 28 September. He will also be in the squad to play three ODIs against Ireland, joining the seamer Brydon Carse as the only players in both groups.

The squad for the New Zealand series initially comprised 15 players and was presented as England’s final World Cup selection, but with Brook joining Carse in subsequently being added there will be some pruning to be done upon its completion. Many of the dozen players joining Brook in the squad to face Ireland will also hope they have a chance of making a late claim for a seat on the plane to India, which is scheduled to depart on 27 September, the day after their final game.

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• Over-by-over updates; 6pm BST start at Trent Bridge
• Get in touch! Email Tim or tweet @TimdeLisle

5th over: England 56-0 (Bairstow 47, Jacks 9) Another over, another bowling change. Santner gives way to Southee, bringing himself back to stem the flow. It doesn’t quite go to plan: Bairstow belts the first ball back past the bowler for six. He’s got four of them already! Jacks, forced to play fifth fiddle, manages to glance for two, helped by a misfield, and that’s England’s fifty up from only 27 balls. Bairstow, also glancing, throws in a four for a change.

4th over: England 42-0 (Bairstow 36, Jacks 6) Another bowling change as Henry gives way to Kyle Jamieson. No change of batting as Bairstow flicks him for six too. A swing and a hit. Jamieson responds with a lifter that Bairstow can only waft at. But he has a retort too, a bottom-handed bunt through mid-on for four. And a pull for six! Hint of a tope edge, but he got just enough of it. Barstow rounds off a triumphant over with a cute dab for a single. He’s already going at two runs a ball. Giving him the gloves seems to have worked a treat.

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