England have suffered a major setback ahead of the home T20 International series against New Zealand (ENG vs NZ) next week. Their young fast bowler Josh Tongue has been ruled out of this series due to injury. In his place, Chris Jordan has now been included in this 15-member team.
Along with this four-match series, Tongue has also been ruled out of The Hundred and will miss his team Manchester Originals’ eliminator clash with Southern Braves at the Kia Oval on Saturday.
Tongue recently made his Test debut for England where he played his first Test against Ireland and his second appearance in the Ashes against Australia at Lord’s. The T20 series will start between England and New Zealand from August 30, in which a total of 4 matches will be played.
England squad for New Zealand T20I series:
Jos Buttler (Captain): David Malan, Harry Brook, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Rehan Ahmed, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Braydon Carse, Chris Jordan, Gus Atkinson, John Turner, Luke Wood.
T20 squad has been selected with a view to try out some other players – Jos Buttler
Prior to the news of the tongue injury, on the evening of The Hundred Eliminator, England white-ball captain Jos Buttler reiterated the need to try different players in the T20 squad, saying,
The T20 squad has been selected with a view to try out some other players. It has been conveyed to Mills and Jordan that we want to introduce a variety of players to important international matches so that we can see what their current status is.
He further spoke on the importance of death bowling in T20 cricket and said,
Death bowling is a big focus in the shorter format of cricket and we want to see where certain players stand and give them a chance. Of course, no one can ever be fired, but in terms of needing extra motivation, in my view every player should always be motivated.