Ben Stokes has confirmed his decision to come out of One-Day International retirement in a major boost to England’s hopes of defending their World Cup crown.
However, Jofra Archer has been left out of England’s planned squad after losing his race to be fit for the start of the tournament, with Harry Brook also a shock omission as uncapped Surrey seamer Gus Atkinson receives a wildcard call.
England on Wednesday named a 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand, with selector Luke Wright confirming the same group will go on to the autumn’s World Cup in India barring any need for late change.
Stokes announced his retirement from ODI cricket last July, citing concerns over his workload having recently taken over the Test captaincy.
The all-rounder had reiterated his stance during the Ashes last month and suggested he would use the break before England’s Test tour to India early next year to resolve a long-standing knee issue, but the lure of the World Cup has proven too great to resist, with Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler set to use their talisman as a specialist batter.
“He was always interested in coming back,” Wright said. “With the Ashes, he had to make that a priority and then have a break and give his body a rest but it wasn’t a case of needing to beg him or anything. He was always keen.”
Stokes’s return means nine of the players involved in the 2019 World Cup triumph are set to defend their title, but hopes of having Archer as the 10th appear to have evaporated.
The quick bowler suffered a recurrence of a stress fracture of the elbow on IPL duty earlier this year and will only be named as one of three travelling reserves in case of injury towards the latter part of the tournament, which runs through October and November, though even that is being described as a best-case scenario.
“There is a duty of care with Jofra,” Wright said. “We know how desperate we all are to have him but we’ve also got to get it right for him. Unfortunately, we’re just running out of time.”
England do not have to formally submit their 15-man squad for the World Cup until September 5 and can make changes for another three weeks beyond that but have opted for clarity going into next month’s four ODIs against the Black Caps.
Atkinson, who has impressed for Surrey across all formats this summer and was clocked at 95mph in The Hundred last week, is the chief beneficiary of Archer’s absence, but there is also room for David Willey, who missed out on a place in the 2019 squad after Archer was parachuted in on the eve of the tournament.
Brook’s omission, meanwhile, is a direct result of Stokes’s return and the squeeze that puts on middle-order places. The Yorkshireman has been England’s breakout star over the past 12 months, winning the T20 World Cup and making a remarkable start to life in Test cricket, but has played only three ODIs amid a series of scheduling clashes. Dawid Malan’s one-day form and ability to bat up the order, along with Liam Livingstone’s spin, see both batters preferred.
Brook is named in the T20 squad to face New Zealand in a four-match series starting at the end of this month, along with the likes of Will Jacks, Ben Duckett and Rehan Ahmed, who have also missed out on World Cup selection. Hampshire seamer John Turner and Josh Tongue, who made his Test debut earlier this summer, receive their first white-ball calls for the same series.
