England have announced a 14-man squad ahead of June’s five-match ODI series against New Zealand, with only seven of the fifteen men who exited the World Cup at the Group Stage retained.
Middlesex’s Eoin Morgan will lead the squad which contains one uncapped player – Sam Billings. Mark Wood, Jason Roy and David Willey will be looking to add to their first ODI caps, which they received in the no-result against Ireland in May.
ODI squad: Morgan Billings Buttler Finn Hales Jordan Plunkett Rashid Root Roy Stokes Taylor Willey Wood #EngvNZ pic.twitter.com/DI4WPPa3nV
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 2, 2015
Eoin Morgan returns to captain the side having missed the Ireland ODI while away at the IPL. He has averaged just 19.23 in ODIs in the past 12 months, and will be desperately hoping to return to form against the Kiwis.
Steven Finn will also line up against New Zealand for the first time since Brendon McCullum took him for 44 runs in just 10 balls in Wellington, which played a major part in the seamer failing to make the Test squad for the West Indies tour.
National selector, James Whitaker, said: “This series presents an excellent opportunity to look at players we believe can play a key role for England over the next four years as we build towards the next ICC Cricket World Cup.”
“We have opted to rest Moeen Ali from this series and he will play cricket for Worcestershire in preparation for the Ashes next month. A number of players involved in the recent World Cup including James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad have been left of the squad for this series.”
“It is important to point out that none of these players have been ruled out of playing a role for England in limited overs formats in the future. This squad allows us to look at a group of players who have performed well both at county and England Lions level in recent years.
“On behalf of the selectors I would like to wish Eoin and Paul Farbrace all the very best for what will no doubt be a highly entertaining series against a very strong New Zealand side.”
England Name ODI Squad:
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain)
Sam Billings (Kent)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Steven Finn (Middlesex)
Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)
Chris Jordan (Sussex)
Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Jason Roy (Surrey)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
James Taylor (Nottinghamshire)
David Willey (Northamptonshire)
Mark Wood (Durham)
Royal London ODI Series vs New Zealand – Fixtures
Tuesday June 9, Edgbaston, 2pm
Friday June 12, Kia Oval, 1pm
Sunday June 14, Ageas Bowl, 10.30am
Wednesday June 17, Trent Bridge, 2pm
Saturday June 20, Emirates Durham ICG, 10.30am
