By BV Swagath
England have rested as many as five players including Skipper Alastair Cook for their 5-match ODI Series against Australia which begins on the 6th of September. Ian Bell is the only other batsman to be rested apart from Cook. The bowling trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann are all rested.
Eoin Morgan will lead the English team in the absence of Cook. England will play a one-off ODI against Ireland at Dublin prior to the Australia Series on the 3rd. Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott have been rested for this one-off affair.
England have included rookies Chris Jordan and Jamie Overton in its 14-man squad. Jordan is a 24-year-old black cricketer who plays for Surrey. The youngster is believed to be an exciting all-rounder who bowls right-arm fast medium. Jordan originally hails from Barbados and had migrated to the UK. The other rookie who has been selected by England in Jamie Overton who is just 19 years old! Overton, who has a twin brother Chris, plays for Somerset, and has also represented England Under 19s. Jamie is a tall fast bowler with barely any first class experience to back him.
The one-off affair against Ireland will give the trio of Michael Carberry, Gary Ballance and Boyd Rankin to make their ODI debuts for England. Strongly built fast bowler Boyd Rankin, who had recently made his T20I debut for England, was an integral part of Ireland playing in two world cups in 2007 and 2011.
Commenting on the squads, National selector, Geoff Miller is quoted on the ECB site as: “Following a very intense period of cricket this summer we have decided to rest a number of senior players which will allow them to recover from a heavy workload over the last three months and to prepare for the tour of Australia which begins in eight weeks.
“This creates an excellent opportunity for players who have impressed in county cricket and for England Lions recently to test themselves at international level as we continue to build a squad ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup which is less than 18 months away.
“There are a number of very experienced one day players in the squad alongside players who are new to international cricket and we are expecting a very tough challenge both from a strong Ireland side and then from Australia in what will no doubt be a very competitive NatWest series.”
England Squad for Ireland ODI: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Gary Ballance, Ravi Bopara, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler (Wicket Keeper), Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Jamie Overton, Boyd Rankin, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Luke Wright
England Squad for Australia ODI Series: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (Wicket Keeper), Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Jamie Overton, Kevin Pietersen, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright
