Anya Shrubsole ruled out of England Women's tour of New Zealand due to knee injury

Anya Shrubsole has taken 90 ODI wickets and 102 T20 wickets for England

Vice-captain Anya Shrubsole will miss England Women's upcoming series against New Zealand due to a knee injury.

Shrubsole was not named in a squad of 16 for the upcoming series for the tour, in which England Women will play three IT20s and three ODIs against the White Ferns.

Katie George is also ruled out after sustaining a stress fracture in her back, but there is room for South East Stars left-arm seamer Tash Farrant, who impressed in the first year of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

Sophia Dunkley retains her place having appeared in England's last international against the West Indies.

England depart on January 24 and must complete a fortnight in quarantine upon arrival but captain Heather Knight says she intends to take that period in her stride.

"We've experienced bubble life as cricketers and it's manageable but it's not particularly fun," she said.

"It's obviously what we need to do at the moment but just a carrot of being able to live normally and enjoy the amazing things that come with touring is something we're massively excited to do.

"We've got that two-week quarantine but knowing at the end of that, we can play cricket and live as normal human beings is going to make it a lot easier."

The tourists will be allowed to train from the eighth day they arrive in the country, if no one tests positive, and after a couple of warm-up games next month they will play the first ODI in Christchurch on February 23.

It will be England's first 50-over game in more than a year, having focused on the T20 format in the early part of 2020 in the run-up to the T20 World Cup in February and March before their summer was blighted by Covid-19.

"I think it's a really important tour in the context of women's cricket internationally, being able to get the game on and so much hard work has gone into it," said Knight.

"We've got a really good core of players, particularly in that ODI team, that are going to be the core of the team (at next year's rearranged World Cup) so it's just going to be tinkering that and working out what our best XI is."

Squad: Heather Knight (Western Storm, cap), Tammy Beaumont (Lightning), Katherine Brunt (Northern Diamonds), Kate Cross (Thunder), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Georgia Elwiss (Southern Vipers), Tash Farrant (South East Stars), Sarah Glenn (Central Sparks), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds, vice cap), Mady Villiers (Sunrisers), Fran Wilson (Sunrisers), Lauren Winfield-Hill (Northern Diamonds), Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)

Director of England Women's Cricket, Jonathan Finch, said: "We're hugely excited about getting over to New Zealand and maintaining our commitment to play international cricket despite these challenging times.

"We have a really important 24 months in front of us with two ICC Global Events, the Women's Ashes and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Our ambition is to be successful across all these events and this tour is the first step towards achieving that.

"2020 has provided many challenges, but under the leadership of Lisa and Heather we have a group of players who are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead."

ODI Series

Tuesday February 23: 1st ODI, New Zealand v England (Hagley Oval, 1am GMT)

Friday February 26: 2nd ODI, New Zealand v England (University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT)

Sunday February 28: 3rd ODI, New Zealand v England (University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT)

IT20 Series

Wednesday March 3: 1st IT20, New Zealand v England (Sky Stadium, 2am GMT)

Friday March 5: 2nd IT20, New Zealand v England (Eden Park, 2am GMT)

Sunday March 7: 3rd IT20, New Zealand v England (Bay Oval, 11pm GMT)