Rehan Ahmed
(Picture: AP)England have named teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed and the uncapped Tom Abell in a depleted squad for next month’s white-ball tour to Bangladesh.
Jos Buttler’s side travel to Dhaka and Chittagong to play three ODIs and three T20s and have selected 15-man squads for each series. England are, however, shorn of several star names due to the clash with this month’s Test series in New Zealand, while some players, including T20 World Cup winner Alex Hales, have made themselves unavailable for selection in order to fulfil more lucrative stints in the Pakistan Super League.
Ahmed made his Test debut during the tour of Pakistan before Christmas and has been playing franchise cricket in the new ILT20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates since the turn of the year, with a view to earning a first senior white-ball call for the Bangladesh tour.
The 18-year-old is included in both ODI and T20 squads, as is Somerset batter Abell, who is about to captain the England Lions in their one-day series in Sri Lanka.
Mark Wood returns having been rested for both the ODI series in South Africa, which finished yesterday, and the upcoming Test tour of New Zealand. Jofra Archer, who made his international comeback in South Africa and returned his best international figures with 6-40 in last night’s Third ODI, is also included in both squads. In a further boost to the bowling ranks, Saqib Mahmood could play his first senior international since last year’s West Indies tour after recovering from a lengthy injury lay-off to be named in the ODI squad.
England are missing around a dozen players in all, with Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livinsgtone still injured, while others are unavailable due to Test and franchise commitments which overlap with the tour.
Joe Root, Olly Stone, Harry Brook, Will Jacks and Ben Duckett are all set to be involved in the New Zealand series, which does not finish until the day before the first ODI in Dhaka on March 1. Both Jacks and Duckett have, however, been included in the T20 squad, with that series not schedule to begin until March 9.
As well as Hales, who was recalled to the T20 side last autumn and enjoyed a superb World Cup opening the batting alongside Buttler, Liam Dawson and Sam Billings are among those who have opted to play in the PSL. David Willey is also not involved but does not currently have a PSL deal. The ECB have been understanding over the situation during a hectic winter, particularly regarding players who are not on central contracts.
There had been reports that James Vince would also sit out the tour but the Hampshire batter has been included in the 50-over squad, having enjoyed a fine run of form in the ILT20.
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
England T20 squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
