England have included pacers Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan in their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup, with Jos Buttler as the captain.
Squad:Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
The same squad will also take on Pakistan in the four-match T20I series at home.
Archer, who last made an appearance for England during the Bangladesh tour last year, returns to bolster the squad after recovering from his persistent issue in the right elbow. In the lead-up to this selection, the 29-year-old pacer featured in Sussex’s pre-season and also some club cricket for Barbados.
Jordan last played a T20I for England in September 2023 and doesn’t have an ECB central contract, and has more recently been plying his trade at the International League T20 and the Pakistan Super League. Prior to that, he was playing for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, where he smashed a 17-ball fifty.
Tom Hartley, the left-arm spinner who impressed during the Test tour of India, is the only uncapped player in the squad and has been picked at the expense of Rehan Ahmed. The only players on the team without World Cup experience are Hartley and Will Jacks.
The Indian Premier League players Jacks and Phil Salt, who have been among the runs, will be looking to carry over their success into the home series against Pakistan and the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US.
Also in the team is Harry Brook, who missed the winter in India because to his grandmother’s death but has been among the runs since his return in county cricket.
There’s no place in the provisional squad for Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan while Ben Stokes, who made a return for the ODI World Cup, had asked not to be considered for selection for this particular 20-overs ICC event.
The first T20I against Pakistan will be played on May 22, and the eight members of the squad currently playing in the IPL are expected to return for the beginning of that series, thus missing the IPL playoffs.
England, who will fly to the Caribbean on May 31, begin their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.
