Harry Brook has been forced out of England’s squad for the World Cup this autumn by Ben Stokes’s decision to return to one-day international cricket, the 24-year-old Yorkshireman’s meteoric rise halted by what Luke Wright, the England men’s national selector, said was “as hard a decision as you’re ever going to get”. There is also no place for Jofra Archer, who will not recover from an elbow injury in time for the start of the tournament but will travel as a reserve.
England have to name a preliminary 18-man squad by 5 September, before whittling that down to a final 15 by 28 September. But the intention is for the 15 players selected for the four-game ODI series against New Zealand to also be the group that travels to India shortly afterwards, accompanied by three reserves. This means Brook, who since making his international debut in January 2022 has nailed down a place in the Test side and won the T20 World Cup, will make the cut only if someone else is ruled out by injury.
