LONDON: England kept faith on Monday with the squad that delivered a Test whitewash in Sri Lanka, naming the same 16 players who finished that tour for the series against the West Indies.

That means no place for Surrey’s Ollie Pope, who was initially selected for Sri Lanka but left early to get game time with the second-tier Lions side, and a reprieve for Kent’s Joe Denly.

The uncapped 32-year-old was not required during the 3-0 win but will once again travel as batting cover for the three Tests, ahead of Pope and his overlooked county colleague Jason Roy.

Wicket-keeper Ben Foakes was a late addition in Sri Lanka after an injury to Jonny Bairstow and takes his place as a first-choice pick after collecting man-of-the-series honours.

The 15-man one-day squad, led by Eoin Morgan, also has a familiar look as the countdown to next summer’s World Cup continues.

Left-armer David Willey returns and fellow paceman Mark Wood is included ahead of Olly Stone, who made his bow in Sri Lanka.

England are due to play three Tests, five One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals on their tour of the Caribbean, which starts next month.

The T20 squad will be announced at a later date.

Test squad: Joe Root (captain), Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

One-day squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Buttler, Moeen Ali, Bairstow, Tom Curran, Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Root, Jason Roy, Stokes, David Willey, Woakes, Mark Wood.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2018