3 major takeaways from England's white ball squads for Australia series
In what comes as a significant development for the England white-ball squads, as many as five new players were added to the T20I outfit for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia. It clearly suggests the fact that England want to look forward in the white ball formats after below-par performances in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.
England went through a purple patch in the white ball formats ever since their shambolic performance in the 2015 ODI World Cup. Under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan, England made a stunning turnaround and went on to inject fresh blood into their white ball teams.
They won their maiden ODI World Cup in 2019 and kept going from strength to strength in both ODIs and T20Is. It was under Jos Buttler’s captaincy that England won the T20 World Cup in 2022 but since their historic win in Australia, their performance have gone down drastically.
Below-par performances in both the previous ODI and T20 World Cups have forced the England selection committee to make a drastic change to their white-ball squads. The squads named for the eight matches against Australia are a good mix of youth and experience.
Here is the England squad for the Australia series:
T20I squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, and John Turner.
ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, and John Turner.
Having said that, let us have a look at three major takeaways from England’s white ball squad for the Australia series.
#1 The return of Jofra Archer to the ODI squad
The inclusion of Jofra Archer in the ODI squad marks the return of the speedster to the 50-over squad for the first time since March 2023. Archer was instrumental in England’s World Cup win in 2019. He bowled the Super Over in the final against New Zealand and helped England win their maiden ODI World Cup.
However, injuries have been a recurrent issue for Archer in his brief career so far, which has resulted in him missing so many matches for England across formats. The right-arm pacer is one of those very few players in the country who has the skill sets to play all three formats but the spate of injuries hasn't allowed him to get the long run.
He was part of the England squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup where they lost against India in the semi-final. He wasn't at his menacing best, to be honest but given his injury history, England wants him to slowly get into his groove and get reintegrated into the white ball teams.
#2 The inclusion of five fresh faces
One of the major talking points from the squad selection has to be the addition of five new players in the T20I squad, with three of them also finding a place in the ODI squad. Explosive batter Jordan Cox has made the cut in T20Is and could end up making his debut in the shortest format.
Meanwhile, the likes of Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley also find their names in the T20I squad with Bethell getting picked for the ODI team as well. The likes of Bethell and Mousley are impressive young players who recently made their mark in the Hundred Men’s competition.
Their all-round abilities lend a good balance to the side. Josh Hull who was recently added to the Test squad as a replacement for Mark Wood also features in both ODI and T20I squads. Meanwhile, Josh Turner also stands a chance of making his debut in the upcoming T20Is.
#3 The omission of Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow
This surely comes as a massively bold move taken by the England selection committee to omit two of the biggest names in England cricket from the white ball squads against Australia. This might well be an indication that the careers of Bairstow and Moeen Ali might well be over.
Team director Robert Key wants to look forward following England’s underwhelming performances in both ODI and T20 World Cups. Moeen and Bairstow were integral parts of the England white-ball squads for a long time but now England wants a young squad who can again turn it around in the shorter formats.