NOTTINGHAM: England all-rounder Ben Stokes was left out of the squad announced on Tuesday for the upcoming Twenty20 International matches against Australia and India.

The 14-man squad did contain Surrey seamer Sam Curran, who made his Test debut against Pakistan at Headingley earlier this month.

England said on Monday the hamstring tear Stokes suffered before that second Test against Pakistan was ‘progressing well’, and it was possible hoped he could play in the three-match Twenty20 series against India starting on July 3.

That remains a possibility as the Durham star will travel with the squad selected for those three matches and the preceding one-off Twenty20 fixture against Australia, which will follow the ongoing ODI series, at Edgbaston on June 27.

Fast bowler Mark Wood, a county colleague of Stokes’s at Durham, has been rested from the squad, with Jake Ball now in contention to win his first Twenty20 cap.

Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan was a surprising omission given he has four fifties in just five T20 International appearances including two in succession in England’s most recent matches in New Zealand.

He averages exactly 50 in the format, but he was omitted along with T20 regulars Sam Billings and Liam Dawson.

But Test captain Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow returned alongside Moeen Ali, after the Yorkshire duo were rested from England’s T20 programme last winter.

“Durham seamer Mark Wood is rested,” said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement on Tuesday. “Ben Stokes will be with the squad throughout the series as he continues his rehabilitation from his torn left hamstring.”

Squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018