Tom Banton, James Vince and Sam Billings included in England’s 24-man white-ball training group

Tom Banton, James Vince and Sam Billings included in England’s 24-man white-ball training group

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The ECB, on Thursday, announced a 24-man white-ball training group, led by Eoin Morgan, in preparation for the limited-overs leg and included the trio of Tom Banton, James Vince and Sam Billings. The 24-man group also included a host of big names, including Baristow, Roy and Moeen Ali.

Having successfully kick-started their red-ball campaign post the Covid-19 pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have now set their sights on getting their players ready for the white-ball leg of the summer. With England being all set to start white-ball proceedings on July 30, with a three-match ODI series against Ireland, the ECB, on Thursday, announced a 24-man training group who will start their campaign in behind the door preparations. 

The group, led by skipper Eoin Morgan, will hold camps at the Ageas Bowl in a biosecure bubble, starting July 16, post the conclusion of the first Test between England and West Indies, after which they will play two intra-squad warm-up matches on July 21 and July 24, ahead of the ODI series against Ireland. As was the case with the Tests, the ECB are expected to announce a squad for the three-match ODI series against Ireland post the conclusion of the two intra-squad warm-up matches.

Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, both of who missed out on the cut for the Tests against the Windies, find themselves as a part of the 24, while Saqib Mahmood, who also partook in the intra-squad warm-up match ahead of the first Windies Test, also has been named in the camp. Young gun Tom Banton and out-of-favour stars James Vince and Sam Billings, too, find their names in the 24, so does David Willey, who narrowly missed out on getting into the 2019 World Cup squad. Lewis Gregory and leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson, both of who recently made their international debuts, have also been picked, while Ben Duckett, Reece Topley, Liam Livingstone and Liam Dawson also find themselves as a part of the 24. Opener Jason Roy, who featured in Ashes 2019 but had an unfruitful run, is the second-biggest name in the camp, alongside skipper Morgan.

It is believed that the ECB have picked all 24 members in the camp with the sole aim of only using them for the white-ball leg of the summer, given the schedule is such that there is only a day’s gap between several red-ball and white-ball matches. It has also been confirmed that assistant coach Paul Collngwood will take over head coach duties, and will be supported by batting coach Marcus Trescothick, in order to give Chris Silverwood some time off. The first ODI against Ireland is scheduled to be played on July 30 at the Ageas Bowl.

"As was the case with our Test preparations, the support that we have received from counties during our ODI return to training phase has been fantastic. Running concurrent training programmes across formats for a large pool of players has been a novel challenge and we are very appreciative of the commitment that counties have shown towards the national cause, particularly as they have been managing their own return to training,” ECB Performance Director, Mo Bobat was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

England’s 24-man white-ball training group

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire).

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