Yorkshire quartet in squad for tour against Pakistan
It has been a phenomenal year for Yorkshire County Cricket Club who after retaining their LV= County Championship title last month, are still on track to break the record points total for the division.
And now, following a summer of success, four of the county’s stars have been named in England’s 16-man Test Squad to face Pakistan in the UAE this autumn.
Adil Rashid, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett, and Joe Root will represent the league champions throughout the tour, whilst Rashid and Root have also been named in the T20 squad.
27-year-old Rashid, from Bradford, will join Moeen Ali and uncapped Zafar Ansari as the spin bowlers in the squad.
National Selector, James Whitaker, said the trio offered ‘exciting potential’ ahead of the tour.
“The challenge we face against Pakistan will be very different and the composition of our squads reflects the conditions we expect to encounter in the UAE,” he said.
“Zafar Ansari’s potential excites us and he will provide strong competition for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the Test squad after enjoying an excellent domestic season with both bat and ball for Surrey.”
Nottinghamshire opener Alex Hales has also been included in the Test squad for the first time.
Another left-arm spinner, Lancashire’s Stephen Parry, has been recalled to the T20 International squad which also features Sussex paceman Chris Jordan, now fully recovered from the side injury which ruled him out of international contention mid-way through the season.
Whitaker added: “We would like to congratulate Alastair Cook, Eoin Morgan, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace on the excellent results they have achieved this summer across all three different formats.
“We are particularly pleased with the way in which a host of new, young players have swiftly adapted to international cricket and made their mark on the England team in such style.
“Alex Hales has scored heavily for Nottinghamshire in First Class cricket this season, has shown he can play match-winning innings for England in white ball cricket and fully deserves an opportunity to compete for a place at the top of the order in our Test side.
“In line with our recent decision to rest Joe Root for the Royal London One-Day Series against Australia, we have opted not to include Ben Stokes in our One-Day or T20 International squads.
“Ben has been an outstanding performer for England this summer and this decision reflects a desire to manage his workload across a busy winter period in all three formats of the game.
“He will come back into contention for the white-ball format when we consider the make-up of our squads for the tour of South Africa later in the year.“
The ECB also announced last week that former England One-Day captain, Paul Collingwood, and former Sri Lanka captain, Mahela Jayawardene, will both join the England management team in consultancy roles at different stages of the winter.
