Jamie Smith has been dropped from England’s T20 World Cup squad, but the injured Jofra Archer and uncapped quick Josh Tongue have both been included.
Test performances in Australia are hardly the most obvious metric for a short-form tournament taking place in Sri Lanka and India in February, but Smith’s dramatic loss of form in the Ashes may be a factor in his omission.
The wicketkeeper-batter smashed 60 from 26 balls in his last T20 appearance against the West Indies in June, but was rested due to a heavy workload from the subsequent series against South Africa and Ireland.
Now, after a difficult series Down Under that has seen him average 19.85 with the bat and struggle at times behind the stumps, he has been left out entirely.
Tongue’s stock has gone in completely the opposite direction after impressive performances in Adelaide and Melbourne.
He has never played white-ball cricket for England but did finish as top wicket-taker in last season’s Hundred competition, claiming 14 in just six games, and boasts a T20 strike-rate of a wicket every 12.5 balls.
Archer has been handed a spot in the 16-man squad in the expectation his recovery from a left side strain will be complete by then. The pace bowler played each of the first three Ashes Tests before pulling up with the latest in a long line of fitness issues and is expected to be out for three to six weeks.
That puts him on a tight timeline for England’s first group game on February 8 and Brydon Carse has effectively been named as his understudy.
Carse will travel as part of the ODI and T20 squads for the bilateral tour of Sri Lanka which precedes the tournament, standing by to replace Archer if there are any hiccups on his comeback trail.
Test opener Zak Crawley also appears in the 50-over leg of that trip, despite playing no List A cricket since his last ODI outing in December 2023.
Ben Duckett has been retained after a taxing time in Australia, where his faltering form and apparently intoxicated appearance in a social media clip have put him under the spotlight.
Like Smith, he was given time off at the end of the English season to protect against burnout but management have concluded he is still fresh enough to play his part on the sub-continent, where his ability against spin could be useful.
Harry Brook will lead his first World Cup campaign as captain with a familiar roll call of players he has leaned on since taking over, including predecessor Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson and Luke Wood.
England face Bangladesh, West Indies, Italy and Nepal in Group C, with managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum both hoping for a strong showing to firm up their positions following the Ashes loss.
England T20 squad (Sri Lanka tour and World Cup): H Brook (c), R Ahmed, J Archer (WC only), T Banton, J Bethell, J Buttler, B Carse (SL only), S Curran, L Dawson, B Duckett, W Jacks, J Overton, A Rashid, P Salt, J Tongue, L Wood.
England ODI Squad v Sri Lanka: H Brook (c), R Ahmed, T Banton, J Bethell, J Buttler, B Carse, Z Crawley, S Curran, L Dawson, B Duckett, W Jacks, J Overton, A Rashid, J Root, L Wood.
