England Drop Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow For New Zealand Tour

England have dropped Jonny Bairstow for their upcoming Test series against New Zealand as they announced their Test and T20I squad for the tour. Bairstow has averaged less than 20 with the bat this year and has finally paid the price for the same. His opening partner in ODIs Jason Roy has also been dropped after his dismal performances in the Ashes.

England have named uncapped Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson in their Test squad. Mahmood and Parkinson are also in the T20I squad along with uncapped Tom Banton and Pat Brown.

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Sibley is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing County Championship with 1,324 in 13 matches prior to this week’s final round of fixtures. He has scored five centuries including two double tons. With Roy dropped, Sibley is likely to open with Rory Burns. Kent’s Crawley is also an option at the top of the order.

Ollie Pope – who played two Tests against India in the summer of 2018, has earned a recall after hitting 221 for Surrey last month. With Moeen Ali taking a break from Tests, leg-spinner Parkinson has been selected as a spin option along with Adil Rashid and Jack Leach in the T20I and Test squad respectively.

On the other hand, Mahmood got his maiden call-up since James Anderson, Mark Wood and Olly Stone are nursing injuries. Mahmood was the leading wicket-taker in this year’s Royal London One-Day Cup, picking up 28 wickets at an average of less than 19.

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England, meanwhile, will play five T20Is and two Tests in New Zealand. The T20I series will start on November 1 while the Tests will get underway on November 21.

England T20I squad:

Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince

England Test squad:

Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes