England have named their white-ball squads for next month’s tour of Australia, with Harry Brook captaining both the ODI and T20I sides.
The tour features three one-day internationals and five T20 internationals across November and early December, serving as an important staging post ahead of a busy winter that also includes a Test tour of South Africa in December.
Near full-strength ODI squad
The 16-member ODI squad is close to full strength. Jofra Archer and Jacob Bethell return after rest and a knee injury respectively, joining an experienced group that includes Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Adil Rashid and Sam Curran.
ODI squad: Harry Brook (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Josh Tongue.
Youth gets its chance in the T20Is
The T20I squad has a fresher look. Eighteen-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Thomas Rew and seamer Eddie Jack have earned maiden call-ups, while James Coles and Henry Crocombe could also make their debuts. Luke Wood has been recalled.
T20I squad: Harry Brook (captain), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Aneurin Donald, Eddie Jack, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Thomas Rew, Phil Salt, Luke Wood.
Archer, Atkinson, Baker and Tongue have been rested from the T20I leg ahead of December’s Test tour of South Africa. The management is clearly prioritising the red-ball winter, and the short-format series in Australia is being used to blood new talent. White-ball calendars are crowded everywhere — Pakistan have been hosting Sri Lanka in a T20I series of their own.
The talking points
The headline selection is Thomas Rew. At 18, the wicketkeeper-batter becomes one of the youngest players ever picked for England’s T20I side. His elevation suggests the selectors see him as a long-term prospect rather than a stopgap, and the tour will show whether he is ready for the step up.
Eddie Jack’s call-up is similarly bold. The young seamer has forced his way in on domestic form, and with Archer and company rested, there are overs available for him to claim.
The omissions tell their own story. Rehan Ahmed misses out entirely, while Brydon Carse remains sidelined by a disciplinary investigation. Saqib Mahmood’s continued absence after knee surgery is another reminder of how injuries have thinned England’s fast-bowling stocks.
The absentees
Phil Salt and Sam Curran return from injury. But Jos Buttler remains out after hamstring surgery — the same injury that ruled him out of England’s tour of Pakistan. Rehan Ahmed has been omitted, while Saqib Mahmood (knee surgery) and Brydon Carse (disciplinary investigation) are also unavailable.
Before flying to Australia, England will feature in an ODI tri-series in Pakistan later this month, for which Lahore-leg tickets went on sale on Tuesday. The tour begins with a warm-up against a Western Australia XI in Perth on November 7. The ODIs follow on November 13 in Perth, November 15 in Adelaide and November 18 in Hobart, before the T20Is in Melbourne (Nov 21), Gold Coast (Nov 24), Brisbane (Nov 27), Sydney (Nov 29) and Canberra (Dec 2). Eight white-ball games in under a month will test the depth of a squad that blends proven winners with exciting new faces.
*Source: Geo Super*
