Sam Billings overlooked as England name strong squad for Netherlands ODIs

David Payne and Luke Wood are in line to make their England debuts against the Netherlands in Amstelveen next month after being included in a 14-man ODI squad which features five left-arm seamers.

The three-match series, which runs from June 17-22, takes place between England’s second and third Tests against New Zealand, meaning players involved in the Test squad were unavailable for selection.

Sam Billings is the most notable omission from the squad having averaged 56.00 in eight ODI innings since the 2019 World Cup. Billings was available for selection but overlooked, with Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt included as the batting options who were not part of the squad for that tournament.

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Morgan was part of the selection panel for the squad along with Rob Key and Matthew Mott, the new white-ball head coach, and England have opted to pick the strongest side available to them for the series, rather than experimenting. They have limited the squad to 14 names, seemingly to avoid pulling players out of their T20 Blast commitments only for them to run the drinks.

Payne, the Gloucestershire seamer, has been part of two England squads before – for the T20I tour to Barbados in January and as a last-minute call-up for the emergency squad for the Pakistan ODI series last summer – but is yet to debut, while Wood is called up for the first time.

“Luke Wood deserves his call-up,” Mott said. “He has been consistent for Lancashire over the past 12 months and we have been monitoring his progression. If given a chance to play, I’m sure he will make [the] most of his opportunity.”

They are two of the five left-arm seamers involved in the squad along with Reece Topley and allrounders David Willey and Sam Curran, who returns after a lower-back stress fracture ruled him out of England’s winter tours and the IPL.
Brydon Carse, the Durham fast bowler, is the only right-arm seamer while Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are the spin options. Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, is another notable absentee, along with other recent white-ball caps Tom Banton, Liam Dawson, George Garton and James Vince.

“I’m very excited to be coaching a strong squad for my first series in charge,” Mott said. “We have tremendous depth with a blend of youth and experience. We want to continue to play in an expressive style and let our players showcase their skills and firepower.

“The ODI side has had limited opportunities and last played in July. However, with about 18 months to the next ICC 50-over World Cup in India, our preparation will start ramping up with nine matches over the summer and a busy winter ahead against strong opponents.”

The Netherlands are yet to name a squad but are without their county-contracted players for their three-match ODI series against West Indies, which started on Thursday; Kent’s Fred Klaassen was initially named in their squad for that series but was not involved in the first ODI.

England squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey, Luke Wood

Fixtures: June 17 – 1st ODI, June 19 – 2nd ODI, June 22 – 3rd ODI (all fixtures at VRA Cricket Club, Amstelveen)

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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