ECB announce the 14-men English squad for the ODI series against New Zealand

ECB announce the 14-men English squad for the ODI series against New Zealand: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced their squad for the upcoming 5-match ODI series against New Zealand at home. The squad selection has been done, keeping in mind of the all important Ashes which would be starting just after the ODI series. Selections are made in such a manner so that none of the players get exhausted due to over-exertion and excessive cricket.

The England skipper for the last World Cup, Eoin Morgan will continue leading the side for the home series as well. The new name in the squad is Sam Billings from Kent. This is the first time that the 24-year old right handed batsman has made it up to the national squad following his successful domestic season for Kent.

Players like David Willey, Mark Wood and Jason Ray would be hoping to add count to their international caps after making debut in international cricket in the series against Ireland earlier this summer. 7 members of the World Cup squad have been included in the team that will face the runners up of the World Cup 2015.

Moeen Ali has been rested from the squad and he would be playing for Worcestershire to get the desired amount of practice prior to the Ashes. Other players in the likes of Broad, Anderson and others have also been rested keeping in mind of the all-important Ashes.

This series would be an exposure to a bunch of young talents in the English cricket and definitely the captaincy skills of Eoin Morgan will be tested for yet another time. New Zealand will be a tough opponent to beat and if the young and inexperienced English line up produce something brilliant, it will be a huge boost for the cricketing prospects of England for the shorter formats of the game following their World Cup disappointment.

The National Selector of the ECB, James Whitaker has said,  “This series presents an excellent opportunity to look at players we believe can play a key role for England over the next four years as we build towards the next ICC Cricket World Cup.”

He further added, “We have opted to rest Moeen Ali from this series and he will play cricket for Worcestershire in preparation for the Ashes next month. A number of players involved in the recent World Cup including James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad have been left of the squad for this series.”

The 14-men squad for the New Zealand series goes as follows:

Eoin Morgan  (Captain), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, David Willey, Mark Wood.

The fixture of the Royal London series goes as follows:

1^st ODI – 9^th June, Edgbaston

2^nd ODI -12^TH June, Kia Oval

3^rd ODI – 14^th June, Ageas Bowl

4^th ODI – 17^th June, Trent Bridge

5^th ODI – 20^th June, Emirates Durham, ICG