ENG vs PAK: David Willey returns as England name T20I squad

The England and Wales Cricket Board on Tuesday (August 18) named a 14-man squad for the T20I series against Pakistan. This will be England’s first assignment in the shortest format after the coronavirus pandemic break.

David Willey, who last played a T20I in May 2019, returns to the squad on the back of an impressive ODI series against Ireland. England have rested their Test regulars – Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Jos Buttler.

Eoin Morgan will continue to take charge as captain of a squad that’s similar to the Ireland series. Liam Livingstone, Reece Topley and Pat Brown have been named as the reserve members. All-rounder Ben Stokes will continue to be out of action due to personal reasons.

“In this crowded international summer, players who are currently in the Test match bio-secure bubble for the Pakistan Test series are not included in this squad. (The IT20s begin three days after the scheduled last day of the final Test). We want to give multi-format players some opportunity to rest and refresh, while still selecting strong squads for every series. We will announce the squad for the Australia T20 series at a later date,” selector Ed Smith said.

Former England batsman Graham Thorpe will head the coaching setup, along with Paul Collingwood as an assistant coach. Marcus Trescothick and Jon Lewis will take up the batting and bowling coach roles respectively.

England Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey.

The three-match T20I series will start on August 28 at Old Trafford, Manchester.