Daily Times

LONDON: Jason Roy has been left out of England’s Twenty20 World Cup squad as the opener paid for his run of poor form. Roy had a series of low scores for England throughout the summer and endured a miserable time in The Hundred, averaging 8.5 over six innings for Oval Invincibles and making three ducks. The 32-year-old had previously been an integral part of England’s white-ball sides. Lancashire’s Phil Salt and Yorkshire’s Harry Brook were included in a 15-strong squad for the tournament in Australia, which takes place in October. With Roy axed, Dawid Malan could be promoted to open the batting to accommodate Ben Stokes’ return in the middle order.

Stokes, England’s Test captain, has missed all of his country’s T20 matches since March 2021. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have been included despite last featuring during the Test tour of the West Indies in March, with both fast bowlers having completed long recoveries from injury. That pair’s presence edges out Richard Gleeson, who is one of three travelling reserves alongside Tymal Mills and Liam Dawson. England will take 19 players to Pakistan later this month for a seven-match T20 series — their first tour of the country since 2005 — with five uncapped players bolstering the travelling squad. Will Jacks, a rising star with Surrey and Oval Invincibles is included alongside Jordan Cox, Tom Helm, Luke Wood and Olly Stone.

Chris Jordan and Liam Livingston will both skip the Pakistan tour to work on their fitness ahead of the World Cup. Jonny Bairstow has been excused following a packed summer as an all-format regular. England white-ball captain Jos Buttler will lead the trip but has already indicated that his calf injury will rule him out of the early stages of the Pakistan series. Moeen Ali will take over as skipper for those games. England, the current 50-over world champions, were beaten semi-finalists in the previous T20 World Cup in 2021.

England’s T20 World Cup squad: Joss Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills.

England’s T20 squad to tour Pakistan:

Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood.