LONDON: World champions England on Monday named batsman Joe Denly in their 14-man squad for the three-match One-day International series against Ireland starting on Thursday.

Kent batsman Denly was dropped for England’s second Test against West Indies and did not return for the ongoing third match of the series in Manchester.

All-rounder Moeen Ali returns as Eoin Morgan’s vice-captain for the three games, which will take place behind closed doors in a bio-secure bubble at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

Left-arm pacemen David Willey and Reece Topley were also recalled. Willey, 30, missed out on England’s triumphant World Cup campaign last year after a change in qualification rules saw him make way for Barbados-born fast bowler Jofra Archer.

Topley, 26, last played international cricket in 2016 but has since suffered several back injuries. The England group contains eight players who were members of the World Cup squad, with Morgan joined by experienced white-ball campaigners Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Adil Rashid.

The second and third matches take place on August 1 and 4, also in Southampton.

England’s red and white-ball fixtures are overlapping in a season cut short by the coronavirus outbreak and they are maintaining two separate squads, with a Test series against Pakistan to follow the ongoing West Indies series.

That means Test skipper Joe Root and fellow World Cup-winners Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Archer will not feature against Ireland.

The England-Ireland ODI series kicks off the inaugural Super League, which will determine who qualifies for the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said earlier on Monday.

“... There are a number of players who’ll feel unlucky not to have made the final squad and that says a lot about how many players we currently have pushing hard for selection at the highest level,” England selector James Taylor said in a statement.

“These ODIs against Ireland are an opportunity to continue the exciting evolution of the ODI side, while also looking towards the Twenty20 World Cup in 2021.

“We are developing excellent strength in depth in white-ball cricket. Even though a number of Test players are unavailable, there is great competition for places.”

England also named three reserve players in Richard Gleeson, Lewis Gregory and Liam Livingstone.

Squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Joe Denly, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey.

Reserves: Richard Gleeson, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingstone.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2020