Ben Stokes’ return to edge out Harry Brook from England World Cup squad

Harry Brook has been forced out of England’s squad for the World Cup this autumn by Ben Stokes’s decision to return to one-day international cricket, the 24-year-old Yorkshireman’s meteoric rise halted by what Luke Wright, the England men’s national selector, said was “as hard a decision as you’re ever going to get”. There is also no place for Jofra Archer, who will not recover from an elbow injury in time for the start of the tournament but will travel as a reserve.

England have to name a preliminary 18-man squad by 5 September, before whittling that down to a final 15 by 28 September. But the intention is for the 15 players selected for the four-game ODI series against New Zealand to also be the group that travels to India shortly afterwards, accompanied by three reserves. This means Brook, who since making his international debut in January 2022 has nailed down a place in the Test side and won the T20 World Cup, will make the cut only if someone else is ruled out by injury.

“This is the squad we’re going to put forward,” Wright said. “It’s incredibly tough but in that middle order, with Stokes coming back as a batter, it does squeeze someone out. There’s no denying what a superstar Brooky is, and what a huge future he’s got with us going forward in all formats. That’s the incredibly tough decision we had to make. Unfortunately in a 15-man squad someone’s going to have to miss out, and on this occasion it’s been him.”

Nine of the 15 players who won the World Cup at home in 2019 will be among the group that sets out to defend the trophy, and just three members of this year’s squad are under 30 – one of whom, Reece Topley, is 29. But there is a place for Gus Atkinson, the 25-year-old Surrey seamer who has played only two 50‑over games in his senior career but is averaging 89.4mph for the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred and has hit a top speed of 95mph.

Quick GuideEngland Men IT20 squadShow

Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Worcestershire), John Turner (Hampshire), Luke Wood (Lancashire).

England v New Zealand Vitality IT20 Series schedule:1st IT20: Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street (30 August)2nd IT20: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester (1 September)3rd IT20: Edgbaston, Birmingham (3 September)4th IT20: Trent Bridge, Nottingham (5 September)

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“He’s hugely exciting and he’s been outstanding, not just in the Hundred – I’m sure everyone’s watched how he’s gone there, with the pace and skill he’s bowled – but also how he’s gone in the Blast,” Wright said. “He’s someone that I’ve been a big fan of for quite a while and he’s really kicked on this year. He does just add that extra pace that everyone’s always looking for.”

England felt forced to roll the dice on Atkinson, with the injury-prone Archer recovering from a stress fracture to his right elbow. “Unfortunately we’re just running out of time, especially for that first part of the World Cup, and there is that duty of care with him,” Wright said. “We have to make sure, long term, that we get it right.

Quick GuideEngland Men ODI squadShow

Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Mark Wood (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

England v New Zealand Metro Bank One-Day Series schedule:1st ODI: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (8 September)2nd ODI: The Ageas Bowl, Southampton (10 September)3rd ODI: The Kia Oval, London (13 September)4th ODI: Lord’s, London (15 September)

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“The best case for Jof at the moment would be to be available for the back end of the tournament. You cannot have a bowler in the squad who might not be available for the second half and definitely not for the first half, we couldn’t do it. If something miraculous happens with him we have time to change things but I don’t see it happening.”

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Even excluding Stokes, who made it clear he wanted to be considered for selection only as a batter, the England squad includes seven recognised seamers or seam-bowling all-rounders. Adil Rashid is the only specialist spin bowler though Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Joe Root will all expect to contribute.

“We feel we need a couple of extra seamers, with the natural way of seamers getting injured, and the guys in the squad do have an injury record,” Wright said. “It’s more likely a few bowlers go down, so we’re having to cover ourselves seam-wise.”

England have also named a squad for the four T20s against New Zealand that precede the ODI series. As well as eight members of the World Cup XV and a number of established players who will consider themselves unfortunate to have missed out on that selection – including Brook, Ben Duckett and Will Jacks – that group includes Josh Tongue, who is in line to make his international white-ball debut having impressed when given a chance in the Test team this summer, and 22-year-old John Turner, a Johannesburg-born right‑armer who has been rewarded for his performances for Hampshire in the T20 Blast, within weeks of qualifying to play for England.