Anderson and Broad out of England ODI squad

England have omitted senior players James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ian Bell, as well as off-spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali from its One-Day International squad for the upcoming series against the World Cup runners-up New Zealand.

With the Ashes beginning on July 8 in Cardiff, it was always likely that Anderson, Broad and Bell would be dropped from the squad. Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali were also excluded.

In addition, from England’s World Cup squad, Ravi Bopara and James Tredwell were also left out while Chris Woakes is still injured.

There was an inclusion for uncapped Kent batsman Sam Billings, while the side also included Yorkshire leg-spinning all-rounder Adil Rashid, Surrey’s Jason Roy, Northamptonshire’s David Willey and pacer Mark Wood.

England ODI Squad in full: 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

Andrew Strauss, the new England cricket director, stressed on the need to have a wider gap between the ODI and the Test teams to try and achieve success with specialist players.

James Whitaker, the national selector said that none of the players left out of the squad had retired from ODIs. Regarding Moeen Ali, he said, “We have opted to rest Moeen Ali from this series and he will play cricket for Worcestershire in preparation for the Ashes next month.”

After the World Cup debacle, England looks to revive its fortunes in the following series. It will be a challenging task for captain Eoin Morgan to ensure good performances from his side against an aggressive New Zealand. Morgan has averaged 19.23 in ODIs in the past twelve months and he will have to lead from the front. However, James Whitaker is optimistic about England’s future. “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,” the former batsman said.

England v New Zealand Fixtures

1st ODI: June 9 at Edgbaston (D/N)
2nd ODI: June 12 at The Oval (D/N)
3rd ODI: June 14 at Southampton
4th ODI: June 17 at Trent Bridge (D/N)
5th ODI: June 20 at Chester-le-Street