Ben Stokes part of England Test squad for the tour of New Zealand

England All-rounder Ben Stokes who missed out on the entire Ashes has been included for the Tests in New Zealand. Stokes was banned from international duties as Police were investigating his Bristol brawl case. Almost three months ago, the all-rounder was controversially involved in a fist fight outside a bar in Bristol. Following this incident, the English cricketer’s career has been adversely affected.

The English selectors decided to give James Vince one more opportunity. Vince who averaged a mere 26 in the Ashes will hope to make the most out of this opportunity. On the other hand, Tom Curran and Jake Ball have been dropped from the team.

Mark Wood replaced Jake Ball, after recovering from his injury. Curran featured in the last two Tests against the Aussies while Ball played the first. Liam Livingstone, Lancashire’s middle-order batsman received his maiden call-up for the tour.

Selectors impressed by Liam’s performance

On the other hand, Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone is all set for his debut. He gets his maiden call-up following his impressive championship for Lancashire. The explosive middle-order batsman also scored a massive double hundred for Lancashire last summer. Livingstone already featured in the T20I squad against South Africa. He played a couple of T20I games in South Africa but couldn’t make his mark in the team.

“Liam has been a player that we have been impressed with for quite some time, having performed well in the county system with Lancashire and over the past couple of years with the England Lions,” national selector James Whitaker said. “He is a very talented and tough cricketer who has the ideal qualities and character to be successful in the Test arena,” he added.

Stokes part of the 16-member squad

The ECB selectors have kept the controversial all-rounder in the loop despite the investigation. “Should the ECB Board receive formal confirmation that Stokes has either been charged or that he will face no charges, they would convene within 48 hours to make a decision on his availability for the team at that stage,” the selectors mentioned in a statement.

Stokes has proved his all-round abilities in the longest format of the game. He scored the fastest double century by an Englishman in Tests against the mighty Proteas. He has also done well with the ball despite his journey with the team in the past two years being a roller-coaster ride.

Gary Ballance was also left out of the Ashes squad but Moeen Ali has been retained, despite his underperformance. England will play two Tests against the Kiwis after the limited-overs fixtures in Australia. The Englishmen will play five ODIs starting from 14th and a T20I tri-series next month before the Test series.

England Test squad for the tour of New Zealand:

Joe Root (C), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood