Jason Roy has been left out of England’s T20 World Cup squad as the opener paid for his run of poor form.
Roy had a series of low scores for England throughout the summer and endured a miserable time in the Hundred, averaging 8.5 over six innings for the Oval Invincibles and making three ducks.
The 32-year-old had previously been an integral part of England’s white-ball sides.
“It’s unfortunate timing, he’s hit a bad patch of form at the worst time,” England director of cricket Rob Key said. “The game is about confidence as much as anything else. We’d be taking a gamble on him finding form.
“He was obviously very disappointed, I think ‘gutted’ was the phrase he used. He wanted to make sure this wasn’t the end.”
Lancashire’s Phil Salt and Yorkshire’s Harry Brook were included in a 15-strong squad for the tournament in Australia, which takes place in October.
Key, who chaired selection, revealed Jonny Bairstow would move up to open alongside England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler, allowing all-rounder Ben Stokes to jump to No 4.
Stokes, England’s Test captain, has missed all of his country’s T20Is since March 2021.
“The knock-on effect of everything we’re doing is that hopefully Ben Stokes has a more fulfilled role. I think that will get the best out of him in those big games,” Key said.
“Having him come in later doesn’t get the best out of Ben Stokes. There’s a great line in his documentary where they say ‘the big moments find him’ and you want to give him that opportunity. I don’t think we’ve done that in T20 cricket.”
Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have been included despite last featuring during the Test tour of the West Indies in March, with both fast bowlers having completed long recoveries from injury.
That pair’s presence edges out Richard Gleeson, who is one of three travelling reserves alongside Tymal Mills and Liam Dawson.
England will take 19 players to Pakistan later this month for a seven-match T20I series – their first tour of the country since 2005 – with five uncapped players bolstering the travelling squad.
Will Jacks, a rising star with Surrey and the Oval Invincibles is included alongside Jordan Cox, Tom Helm, Luke Wood and Olly Stone.
Chris Jordan and Liam Livingston will both skip the Pakistan tour to work on their fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Buttler will lead the trip but has already indicated that his calf injury will rule him out of the early stages of the Pakistan series.
Moeen Ali will take over as skipper for those games.
England, the current 50-over world champions, were beaten semi-finalists in the previous T20 World Cup in 2021.
England T20 World Cup squad: Joss Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills.
England T20I squad to tour Pakistan: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood, Mark Wood.
© Agence France-Presse
