Photo: Collected
England cricket star Ben Stokes has been left out of the squad for the Champions Trophy in February and March next year because of injury. Stokes, England's test captain, has not played a one-day international since the 2023 World Cup but said he was open to returning to the white-ball set-up following Brendon McCullum's appointment as head coach across all formats in September.
However, the 33-year-old Stokes suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem during the recent test series in New Zealand and was not included in a 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Sunday.
Stokes previously missed the summer series against Sri Lanka at home and the first test of the three-match test series in Pakistan in the autumn because of hamstring issues.
Joe Root returned to the squad having been away from the international white-ball scene for more than a year and Jos Buttler was back as captain after missing the ODI team's most recent series in the West Indies.
Sam Curran, Will Jacks and Reece Topley all missed out after failing to further their claims in the Caribbean. Jofra Archer did enough to prove his fitness and was included, as was fellow seamer Saqib Mahmood despite limited opportunities.
The squad will play five T20 internationals and three ODIs in India from January before travelling to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Spinner Rehan Ahmed will feature in the initial T20 leg of the tour before dropping out, while Root will only link up with the squad when the ODI program begins in India.
England squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.
Messenger/JRTarek
