Ben Stokes Returns to Captain of a Revised Nine-Player Unlimited England Team for ODI Series Against Pakistan; the initial team was forced into isolation due to three players and four backroom staff members testing positive for Covid-19; first ODI in Cardiff on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Cricket
Ben Stokes is once again the captain of a revised England team with nine players without a cap
England have named nine limitless players to their revised squad for the ODI series against Pakistan following a coronavirus outbreak in the starting group.
Ben Stokes is back as team captain after recovering from a finger injury, Dawid Malan, who left the team for personal reasons, is also returning to the fold to play alongside a host of new faces, but there’s no room for Alex Hales.
Test batsmen Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence are joined by Durham Brydon Carse, Middlesex’s Tom Helm, Somerset’s off-roader Lewis Gregory, Surrey’s Will Jacks, Gloucestershire left goalkeeper David Payne, Sussex’s opening hitter Phil Salt and Middlesex Ranger John Simpson An 18-member group is yet to feature with England in over 50 cricket.
“It’s a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most of the selected players it’s not necessarily something they would have been waiting for 24 hours ago,” said England men’s cricket managing director Ashley Giles.
“It is an exciting group of players, with some young talents and some players who have impressed nationally over a long period of time.
“We are in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire team and management team, and I am very proud of how everyone has come together to achieve this, both within the ECB and in the county game.”
England was forced to select a new team for him after seven positive Covid-19 tests put the entire team in isolation.
Three England players and four backroom employees tested positive for Covid-19, and the rest of the team were considered close contacts.
The first ODI is on Thursday in Cardiff, live Sky Sports Cricketand will move on.
Stokes will be England’s captain after weeks out with a broken finger, even though Eoin Morgan initially said it would be too early to consider the all-rounder.
Chris Silverwood was not in charge of the ODI series against Sri Lanka as he was taking a break and will be available to return as head coach.
“We have been aware that the emergence of the Delta variant, coupled with our move away from strictly enforcing biosecure environments, could increase the chances of an outbreak,” said Tom Harrison, Executive Director of the ECB.
“We made a strategic choice to try to adapt the protocols, in order to support the general well-being of our players and managers who have spent much of the last 14 months living in very restricted conditions.
“Overnight we have worked quickly to identify a new team, and we are grateful to Ben Stokes, who will regain the role of captain in England.
“We also recognize the impact this news will have on our first-class counties and their men’s squads and we thank them, along with our partners Sky and Royal London, for their continued support in tackling this pandemic.”
England team revised in full: Ben Stokes (Durham, Captain), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Danny Briggs (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), David Payne (Gloucestershire), Phil Salt (Sussex), John Simpson (Middlesex), James Vince (Hampshire).
Sky Sports cricket expert and former England captain Nasser Hussain praised the ECB for the way they have handled the Covid bubble, but says the latest outbreak will cause “absolute chaos.”
“It shows how well England and the ECB have done over the last 15 months during the Covid era to keep it out of the bubble, be it the bubble fully closed, something that has eased slightly and I think they had to ease that bubble. a little, “he said Sky Sports News.
“Cricketers have been going around the world in bubbles and just for the sake of their sanity, when they get close to the ground and see normal society out there and relax a little bit, that’s what they have to do. with his players.
“Now he is in the camp and now they will have to react.
“It will cause chaos because obviously they have to choose a completely different team, they are 16 players and then the back room staff and the coaches are discarded.
“They will have to take most of those cricketers out of the county, now there is a round of county championship games and all those counties will have to replace those players and have them vetted.
“Players who are withdrawn will have to get to Cardiff and undergo tests to enter the bubble, so it will be absolute chaos in the towers of the ECB at this point.”
