England announce squad for 2024 T20 World Cup; Jofra Archer recovers from injury to be includedÂ
Defending champions England have named a 15-member squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA) in June. Jos Buttler will lead the squad that will also face Pakistan in a four-match home T20I series in May, while Moeen Ali serves as the deputy.
The biggest takeaway from the England and Wales Cricket Board's announcement is Jofra Archer's return to the setup. The all-rounder has been dealing with injuries over the last 12 months but has apparently recovered in time to be included in the squad to bolster England's chance to retain their title.
England are spoilt for choices in terms of their top-order department. The team have the option of fielding the in-form Will Jacks or Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order alongside skipper Jos Buttler.
The likes of Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, and even Ben Duckett make up arguably one of the strongest middle-order among all the teams in the competition.
The player of the tournament from the previous edition, Sam Curran, also finds a place and is one of the pace bowling all-rounders in the squad along with Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer.
As far as the spin department is concerned, England have named two frontline spinners, Adil Rashid and Tom Hartley, with the latter being uncapped in the shortest format. The left-arm spinner's only experience in international cricket came in the form of the recent Test series in India, where he certainly made a solid impression. He has credible experience in T20 cricket through Lancashire, boasting an economy rate of just 7.85.
The duo of Reece Topley and Mark Wood will shoulder England's pace bowling department. Topley is currently with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL while Wood withdrew from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) squad citing workload issues after the Test series in India.
Chris Woakes comes across as one of the biggest absentees in the squad. The new ball specialist had played the T20I series against the West Indies as well as the ILT20 for the Sharjah Warriors. Furthermore, all-rounder Ben Stokes was not considered for selection as he withdrew himself to focus on his recovery from knee surgery for England's Test summer from July onwards.
England's preliminary squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup
Jos Buttler (c/wk), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, and Mark Wood.
England players will be unavailable for the IPL 2024 Playoffs
The statement from the ECB mentions that the players selected for the T20 World Cup will have to report back to national duty for the home series against Pakistan, beginning from May 22 onwards. This means that those players will not be available for franchises that qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs, which begin from May 21 onwards.
"Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024," the statement read.
England have been drawn alongside arch-rivals Australia, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman in Group B of the 2024 T20 World Cup.