England v Pakistan: Ben Stokes to captain as hosts name 18 players in new squad
After their Covid outbreak, England took the unprecedented step of naming an entirely new 18-man squad for their one-day series against Pakistan, just two days before the first match.
Ben Stokes will captain a side that could feature up to nine debutants, while there are a host of players given a dramatic chance to represent their country again when the three-match series starts on Thursday.
Six of the squad have never played an international before.
The best-known of those is Sussex’s Phil Salt, a 24-year-old destructive opening batter who has been in previous England squads and has played in the Big Bash, Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League.
Will Jacks, 22, is another exciting, aggressive batter. He scored a 25-ball hundred for Surrey in a pre-season game and hit 87 in the T20 Blast against Kent last week. Jacks also bowls useful off-spin.
Aged 32, John Simpson is an experienced wicketkeeper-batter, called up on the back of a number of solid seasons for Middlesex across all formats.
He is joined in the squad by county team-mate Tom Helm, a 27-year-old fast bowler who was part of an enlarged England squad that toured South Africa before Christmas but did not play.
South Africa-born Brydon Carse, 25, is selected despite his modest 50-over record. He has bowled at lively pace for Durham and impressed on a Lions tour of Australia last year.
Gloucestershire’s David Payne, 30, another who has more than 10 years experience in the county game, provides a left-arm seam bowling option.
Agencies