England's Dawid Malan (Associated Press)

England squad for West Indies: Dawid Malan dropped as just six World Cup players included

November 12, 2023 NewScore 360

Just six players from England’s ODI World Cup have kept their places in a new-look squad for their white-ball tour of West Indies.

The tour, which includes a three-match ODI series (starting December 3) and a five-match T20 series (beginning December 12), will be England’s first action since their unimpressive World Cup title defence in India.

Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Mark Wood have been rested ahead of January’s Test series in India and Test captain Ben Stokes is heading straight for an operation on his long-term knee injury.

But the omissions of Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes from the 50-over squad may prove to be more final.

Moeen and Woakes, together with Adil Rashid, are retained for the T20 leg, suggesting they still have a chance of making next summer’s short-form World Cup to be held in the Caribbean and USA, but Malan has been cut from both formats.

Despite being England’s top run-scorer over the last few weeks, finishing exactly 100 clear of his nearest challenger, at 36, he seems to have run out of road.

Captain Jos Buttler remains in charge and is joined by Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.

Three uncapped players make the cut in ODI side with Test vice-captain Ollie Pope joining seamers John Turner and Josh Tongue. The pace pair also feature in the 20-over squad.

Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed will also make the full trip, indicating they are all seen as important parts of England’s white-ball rebuild.

While Ahmed was handed a two-year central contract last month, it is notable that neither Jacks nor Salt were among the 29 names who did receive deals.

Malan, who appears to have played his final limited-overs international, was signed up for a year.

ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, John Turner.

T20I squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, John Turner, Chris Woakes.

Atherton: England do not need a complete reset

Former England captain Michael Atherton had said there is no need for a complete reset of the England one-day cricket set-up, despite the holders being knocked out of the World Cup with a whimper.

“There definitely needs to be some fresh blood in there,” he told Sky Sports after it was confirmed England will finish seventh in the group of 10 at the World Cup, having won only three matches all tournament.

“You have to have half an eye on the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the next World Cup in 2027.

“But I don’t believe in just ripping everything up. It’s not much of a template that I’ve seen be successful in the past in terms of regeneration. I think you do regenerate, but you do it smartly and wisely and there are still some very good cricketers in that dressing room by any estimation, and they would deserve their place in any England 50-over side.

“So it’s not a complete reset, but it’s just a gradual regeneration and introduction of fresh blood. And let’s not forget some of the quality in England’s domestic cricket in terms of white-ball cricketers that are out there is amazing. You think of the people who are not here, people like Ben Duckett, people like Will Jacks, those kinds of guys, so there’s plenty to come in.

“England’s average age is 31. You don’t go over the hill in six or seven weeks. I actually took a little bit of time just to compare age profiles with some of the other top teams. India’s average age is 31, New Zealand’s average age is 31, Australia’s average age is 31. England have got four players under 30 in their squad, New Zealand have only got three. New Zealand, like England, have got some veterans of three World Cups in their mid-30s.”