Two of England’s most popular cricketers are facing the possibility of their international careers being over, with Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali the high-profile omissions from the men’s white-ball squads that take on Australia next month.
Reacting to two joyless and failed World Cup defences in the past year – campaigns that cost Matthew Mott his job as white-ball head coach but left Jos Buttler clinging on as captain because of a lack of alternatives – the selection panel led by the team director, Rob Key, has opted for an injection of youth across the T20 and 50-over teams.
Five uncapped players are drafted into the T20 squad, including two hard‑hitting spin‑bowling all‑rounders in Warwickshire’s Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley, with Moeen, 37 and previously vice-captain to Buttler, forced to make way. Bethell, the Barbados‑born 20-year-old, also takes Moeen’s one‑day international spot.
Unlike Moeen, whose central contract expires in October, Bairstow was awarded a two-year deal last winter and so could yet make a comeback in theory. But with the Yorkshireman turning 35 next month and having lost his Test place at the start of the summer – Key citing a loss of form across all formats when announcing the news – it will take some otherworldly domestic returns to bring it about.
T20 squad
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Jordan Cox (Essex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Josh Hull (Leicestershire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), John Turner (Hampshire)
ODI squad
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey),
Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Josh Hull (Leicestershire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Reece Topley (Surrey), John Turner (Hampshire)
T20 schedule
1st IT20: Wed 11 Sep, Utilita Bowl (6.30pm)
2nd IT20: Fri 13 Sep, Sophia Gardens (6.30pm)
3rd IT20: Sun 15 Sep, Emirates Old Trafford (2.30pm)
ODI schedule
1st ODI: Thu 19 Sep, Trent Bridge, (12.30pm)
2nd ODI: Sat 21 Sep, Headingley (11am)
3rd ODI: Tue 24 Sep, Seat Unique Riverside (12.30pm)
4th ODI: Fri 27 Sep, Lord's (12.30pm)
5th ODI: Sun 29 Sep, Seat Unique Stadium (11am)
Jordan Cox, the Essex batter, gets his T20 chance ahead of Bairstow, while a bowling attack with Saqib Mahmood returning after two years of injury torment also has two uncapped seamers in Hampshire’s Josh Turner and Josh Hull, the 6ft 7in Leicestershire left-armer who was added to the Test squad over the weekend.
The three T20s against Australia that get under way on 11 September come just 24 hours after the scheduled fifth day of the third Test against Sri Lanka, meaning no crossover in personnel here. The five-match ODI series that follows does allow a number to feature, however, with Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Matthew Potts, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith all included.
Joe Root is omitted but is said to have been given a break, although no such explanation has been offered for the absence of Chris Woakes. Now 35, he may well be entering Test specialism and could be part of the side that travels to Pakistan in early October.
Hull and Turner are among five seamers to feature in both squads, with Reece Topley, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse the others. Archer’s inclusion in the 50‑over squad signposts the next phase of his comeback from a career‑threatening elbow injury with a view to potentially playing Test cricket next year.
The inclusion of Carse is noteworthy for a very different reason, however, coming two days before the 29-year-old Durham seamer completes a three-month ban from all cricket for past betting violations.
As well as a chance to blood new players with an eye on next year’s Champions Trophy, these two late-summer series allow Marcus Trescothick to stake his claim to be the next permanent white-ball head coach. The 48-year-old, part of the Test setup, has replaced Mott on an interim basis and is expected be among the candidates.
