LONDON – England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow has been left out of the squad for the two-Test series in New Zealand but included in the Twenty20 squad for the tour that begins in November, the country’s cricket board said on Monday.
The 29-year-old Bairstow scored 214 runs in this year’s drawn Ashes series, averaging just below 24 in the five Tests, with only one half-century to his name in 10 innings.
Jos Buttler is expected to keep wicket while Ollie Pope, who last played a Test in August 2018, is set for a back-up role.
Jason Roy, who struggled during the Ashes with 110 runs in eight innings, was not named in either squad, while all-rounder Ben Stokes, Buttler, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes will sit out the T20 series.
Four uncapped players – Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood – have been called up to the Test squad.
Eoin Morgan, who led England to their maiden World Cup triumph with a win over New Zealand in July’s final, will return to take up the captaincy for the T20 matches as they step up their preparations for the World Cup in October next year.
England begin the New Zealand tour with the first of five T20 matches to be played on November 1, followed by two Tests that begin on November 21 and 29, respectively. The Tests will not be a part of the ICC World Test Championship.
Test squad: Rory Burns, Joe Denly, Dominic Sibley, Joe Root (captain), Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Jack Leach
T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), 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. (Reuters)
