England have named their squads for the white-ball series against South Africa in November and December; Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran are rested for the three ODIs, left-armer Reece Topley makes both squads; Joe Root misses out on T20 squad again
Tuesday 3 November 2020 16:39, UK
England have named the squads for their white-ball tour of South Africa with Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran included in the Twenty20 group but rested for the one-day internationals.
All three players have been heavily involved for their sides at the Indian Premier League, and with a potentially hectic winter ahead including possible tours to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India early in 2021, England have chosen to manage their workload as well as reducing the time spent in another bio-secure bubble.
Jos Buttler was involved in 13 of Rajasthan Royals' IPL fixtures but England's white-ball vice-captain is included in both squads for the two three-match series, with the T20Is kicking things off on November 27.
Left-arm seamer Reece Topley is also named in both squads after making his international return against Ireland over the summer, four injury-plagued years on from his last England appearance, while Archer's absence provides an opportunity for Warwickshire fast bowler Olly Stone, who is part of the 15-man ODI squad; the most recent of Stone's four ODI caps came in Sri Lanka in 2018.
Tom Banton has to settle for a place among the reserves for both the ODI and T20s following a disappointing end to the English summer against Australia and a frustrating IPL in which he has had limited opportunities. Test captain Joe Root is again omitted from the squad for the shortest format.
Meanwhile, Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone and Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory will also be hoping for a chance in the 50-over games.
Seamers Jake Ball, who impressed for Nottinghamshire as they won the Vitality Blast, and Middlesex's Tom Helm join Banton as reserves. Ball has played 18 ODIs and two T20Is for England but none since 2018 while 26-year-old Helm has been a regular for England Lions in recent years but is uncapped at senior international level.
The touring party will fly from London to Cape Town on November 16 and will play one 50-over intra-squad warm-up match and two intra-squad T20s before the behind-closed-doors T20I and ODI series in Cape Town and Paarl begin.
England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).
England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Reserves across both formats: Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex).
The return of star all-rounder Stokes is "a huge bonus" for England ahead of their white-ball tour of South Africa, says Mike Atherton.
Stokes was integral to England's Test series victory over West Indies at the start of the summer but left the squad after the first Test against Pakistan and missed the remainder of the English season for family reasons.
The 29-year-old returned to action for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in October and is now in line-up to make his England comeback in the T20I series against the Proteas.
"He's a world-class player, who is probably England's most important cricketer across all formats actually," Atherton told Sky Sports.
"To have him back is a huge bonus for the team. He's going to be rested for the second half of his white-ball series, for the one-day internationals, along with Jofra Archer and Sam Curran, who are in heavy demand across all formats and in franchise cricket as well.
"But because they've got world T20 tournaments, they're the next thing on the horizon, they're obviously slightly prioritising the three T20s over the three ODIs in South Africa, hence why they're being rested for the second half of the trip."
