Players without international experience include Tom Helm, David Payne, Phil Salt and John Simpson
There is no international recall for Alex Hales, who has not played for England since failing a second recreational drugs test shortly before the 2019 World Cup. “We did selection late last night,” Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, said when asked about Hales’ omission. “Clearly we have some of the best white-ball batsmen in the world right now, which is fantastic [but] they are missing. What we’ve never questioned is Alex’s ability. The reason he’s absent from these teams previously is different. They’re not things for us to get into now or over the last 12 hours, so that’s all I’m going to say on it.”
Joe Clarke, Hales’ Nottinghamshire team-mate, is self-isolating as a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid, so was unavailable for selection. It is unclear if he would have been considered. Chris Jordan (groin) and Ollie Pope (thigh) both have minor injuries. Sam Hain, who has the highest List A average (59.78) among batters to have played more than 50 innings, is another notable omission.
The 18-man group features six players who have yet to be capped in any format for England – Carse, Tom Helm, Jacks, Payne, Salt and Simpson. Aside from Stokes, who has made 98 ODI appearances, the next most-experienced player is seamer Jake Ball, who won the last of his 18 caps in 2018.
Members of the squad who were involved in Championship games this week have been pulled out of ongoing matches and will be replaced by their respective counties. They will be required to take PCR tests and “follow bridging protocols to ensure safe entry to camp”, according to an ECB statement.
Several coaches from around the county circuit have also been drafted in, with Anthony McGrath joining up from Essex and Alan Richardson coming from Worcestershire to help support Silverwood, alongside ECB elite spin coach Jeetan Patel and Jonathan Trott, who has previously worked with England on a consultancy basis.
“Huge thanks to all the directors of cricket, the chief executives and the chairmen,” Giles said. “It is tough for them: there are two rounds of County Championship cricket and we’re pulling 11 of 12 players out of this round. It is tough, we get that. But everyone has been hugely supportive of the challenge we’ve had in the last 24 hours. It’s a real country-wide effort to get cricket on this week.
“It’s a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most of the players selected it’s not necessarily something they would have been expecting 24 hours ago,” he had previously said in a statement.
“It’s an exciting group of players, with some young talent and some players who have impressed at domestic level over a long period of time. We’re in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire squad and management team, and I’m very proud of how everyone has come together in order to get it done – both those within the ECB and from the county game.
“Ben hasn’t captained our ODI side before so it’s a huge honour for him. We all wish him well and it’s a role I’m sure he’ll thrive in. I’d like to also put on record the thanks of the ECB to the PCB for their support and understanding during this time.”
England ODI squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, James Vince
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
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