Rehan Ahmed and Tom Abell are included in England's ODI and T20 squads for the first time; Alex Hales misses March tour due to Pakistan Super League commitments; England will play Bangladesh in three ODIs and as many T20 internationals
Friday 3 February 2023 08:32, UK
Uncapped duo Rehan Ahmed and Tom Abell have been selected for England's white-ball tour of Bangladesh.
Abell will captain the England Lions side for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and then join the senior side in Bangladesh ahead of the first ODI in Dhaka on March 1.
Teenager Ahmed impressed during the last Test against Pakistan last year with a five-wicket haul on debut and has now been selected for England's white-ball side for the first time.
Saqib Mahmood is recalled to the ODI squad as he prepares to make his return to full international cricket following the back injury he suffered last May.
Jofra Archer is also in both squads as he continues his return to the England side, after playing two ODIs against South Africa.
Archer returned for the first ODI, taking one wicket and played in the third match, claiming career-best figures of 6-40 in England's 59-run victory.
England captain Jos Buttler said: "Jofra wants to play. When he's come back and he's fit, and there's cricket available, it doesn't seem to make sense to hold him back. He certainly needs to be playing cricket, in my opinion.
"You are always going to try to look after him and we will be guided by the medical team, and guided by him as to how he's feeling but he has been sat on the sidelines for a long time, so if he's fit and available it makes sense for him to be playing cricket."
Alex Hales misses out on the T20 squad, with the batter playing in the Pakistan Super League instead.
On players missing England games for franchise competitions, Buttler said: "It's quite a unique situation and I can understand it both ways.
I certainly don't want to be in a position where you rule people out and say they'll never play for England again or anything like that. Wherever people are playing, we want to pick our best available team, especially for World Cups and big ICC events, so we are open-minded.
"As England captain, on one side you wish that everyone would see playing for England as the main thing and grab any opportunity available but there are bigger things in play as well.
"The discrepancy between what people can earn playing for England and not playing for England is quite large, so that's a factor that must be considered. For each individual that will be a different decision at different times of their careers.
"In this day and age, you've got to try to work with it as best you can and if people make that choice to make themselves unavailable, they know they're giving someone else a chance as well.
"It's quite complicated and of course there are some frustrations at certain points but I completely understand people's positions and it's an individual decision."
With England's red ball side playing a two-match Test series against New Zealand at the end of February, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and Olly Stone have been left out of the white-ball squad.
Ben Duckett and Will Jacks, who are also in that Test squad, are included in the T20 and Test party.
ODI Squad: Jos Buttler, Tom Abell, Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
T20 Squad: Jos Buttler, Tom Abell, Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
1st ODI: Wednesday, March 1 - Dhaka
2nd ODI: Friday, March 3 - Dhaka
3rd ODI: Monday, March 6 - Chattogram
1st T20I: Thursday, March 9 - Chattogram
2nd T20I: Sunday, March 12 - Dhaka
3rd T20I: Tuesday, March 14 - Dhaka
