England, on Friday (January 27), named an unchanged One-Day International squad for the West Indies series, taking forward the same side that played in their 1-2 loss to India. The Eoin Morgan-led side will play a three-match one-day series against hosts West Indies after two warm-up fixtures. Only Alex Hales, who was a part of the touring party to India will miss out, after having picked up a hand injury during the second ODI in Cuttack.
Alex Hales, who was originally a part of the 15-member England squad for the ODI series against India, suffered an injury on his right hand while taking a catch in the second match in Cuttack. He was ruled out of the India tour and won’t be a part of the squad for the West Indies series.
Following the disappointing show in the last 50-over World Cup in 2015, in which they lost to Bangladesh and were ousted in the group stage, England have undergone a major revamp and become a formidable unit in limited-overs cricket since then, under the captaincy of Morgan. With the ICC Champions Trophy coming up later in the year, they are focussed on creating a settled unit – one that will be competent enough to help England bag their maiden ICC trophy in the 50-over format.
“There is a huge emphasis on white-ball cricket during the first half of 2017, as we continue our preparation ahead of this summer’s ICC Champions Trophy tournament in England,” James Whitaker, England and Wales Cricket Board’s national selector, said.”We felt it was important to keep faith with the squad that competed during the recent tour of India.
“The current group of players are making excellent progress under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan and head coach Trevor Bayliss and the tour of the Caribbean will enable the team to test themselves in different conditions against a competitive side in the West Indies.”
England, who lost the recently-concluded ODI series against India, will arrive in St. Kitts and Nevis on February 22 before playing two warm-up matches at Warner Park on February 25 and Monday February 27. The first of three ODIs will be played on March 3 in Antigua.
England’s West Indies tour will be followed by a two-match ODI series against Ireland, followed by a three-match one against South Africa before Champions Trophy 2017.
England Squad: Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Eoin Morgan (C), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes.
