Watch England's tour of South Africa, live on Sky Sports Cricket
Tuesday 17 December 2019 06:53, UK
Joe Root has been left out of England's Twenty20 squad for the tour of South Africa despite a number of his 50-over team-mates earning recalls.
The Test captain missed the five-match T20 series with New Zealand in November alongside fellow World Cup winners Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood.
But those six are back in captain Eoin Morgan's squad for the three-game series with South Africa in February.
Root's exclusion is the biggest indication yet that his spot in the team for the T20 World Cup in October is not guaranteed.
He has only scored one half-century for England during his last 12 innings in the shorter format of the game, which was 55 against the West Indies in March, and struggled for form at the Big Bash last winter.
National Selector Ed Smith, said: "These two squads were selected with an eye on the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.
"In the T20s, a number of players who were rested for the successful 3-2 victory in New Zealand return to the squad: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy.
"We want to expand the pool of players who can perform successfully for England, while also helping the team to peak for major tournaments."
Root is included in a 16-man squad for the preceding ODI series in February but Stokes, Archer, Wood and Buttler are rested.
England have not played an ODI since beating New Zealand in the thrilling climax to this summer's Cricket World Cup, in July, when Stokes and Buttler posted a total of 15 in the Super Over which Archer successfully defended - victory confirmed when Buttler ran out Martin Guptill.
The quartet's absence from the ODI squad means that Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown, Somerset batsman Tom Banton and the Lancashire pair of Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood receive their first call-ups.
Banton and Mahmood are, however, two of five players who contributed to England's T20 victory over New Zealand in November to miss out on selection for the shortest format this time - along with Sam Billings, Lewis Gregory and James Vince.
England will play the first of three ODIs against South Africa in Cape Town on Tuesday February 4, with the remaining games at Durban and Johannesburg on February 7 and 9 respectively.
The three-match T20 series begins the following week - East London, Durban and Centurion the venues.
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Mark Wood (Durham)
First ODI, Newlands, Cape Town: Tuesday, February 4 from 10.30am
Second ODI, Kingsmead, Durban: Friday, February 7 from 7.30am
Third ODI, New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg: Sunday, February 9 from 7.30am
First Twenty20, Buffalo Park, East London: Wednesday, February 12 from 3.30pm
Second Twenty20, Kingsmead, Durban: Friday, February 14 from 3.30pm
Third Twenty20, Supersport Park, Centurion: Sunday, February 16 from 12pm
Watch England's tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports Cricket, starting with the first Test from 7am on Boxing Day.
