The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have named a revised squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against the Pakistan team after the original squad was put in isolation as 7 members of the team were found COVID-19 positive.
It was reported earlier by the ECB that 3 players and 4 support staff members of the England team which last faced Sri Lanka, were found COVID-19 positive following the PCR tests administered yesterday (Monday) in Bristol. The remaining members of the squad have all been deemed close contacts and will isolate from July 4.
9 Uncapped Players Named In England ODI Squad; Ben Stokes Named Captain
The white-ball series against Pakistan will go as scheduled with Ben Stokes taking over the captaincy from Eoin Morgan. Apart from Stokes, Chris Silverwood will continue to be the head coach, despite scheduled to take time off during the white-ball series. In total, there are nine uncapped players in the squad.
Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, Ashley Giles, said: “It’s a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most of the players selected it’s not necessarily something they would have been expecting 24 hours ago. It’s an exciting group of players, with some young talent and some players who have impressed at domestic level over a long period of time.”
“We’re in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire squad and management team, and I’m very proud of how everyone has come together in order to get it done – both those within the ECB and from the county game. Ben hasn’t captained our ODI side before so it’s a huge honor for him. We all wish him well and it’s a role I’m sure he’ll thrive in,” Giles added.
The three ODIs will be played on July 8 at Cardiff, 10 at Lord’s and 13 at Birmingham.
Revised England squad for Pakistan ODI series:
Ben Stokes (C), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, James Vince