Following the birth of his first child, Stuart Broad has been invited back to England’s Test squad. Matt Potts and Dan Lawrence have also been brought back for the two-Test trip to New Zealand in February. Potts excelled with his 20 wickets at 28.00 in the first five matches while captaining Ben Stokes’ team. He earned his Test debut in the first game of the 2022 summer, also against New Zealand at Lord’s.
He was unexpectedly left out of England’s squad for the tour of Pakistan, and he did not play in the remaining two matches of the summer against South Africa due to Ollie Robinson’s return to action. Lawrence, meanwhile, has returned to the lineup for the first time since the Caribbean tour in March, during which his energetic batting performances, like as scores of 91 and 41 in Barbados, served as an early sign of the team’s future course.
He did, however, see a decline in performance for Essex in 2022, which was made worse by two hamstring problems. Olly Stone, a fast bowler for Warwickshire who recently played in an ODI series against Australia but hasn’t taken part in a Test match since New Zealand’s visit to England in June 2021, is also a member of the 15-man team.
Given that Mark Wood will likely be rested after playing crucial roles in the second and third Tests against Pakistan this month, he has a chance to lead England’s pace attack on the tour. After a hectic winter in all formats, Wood, who was also a key component of England’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign, is scheduled to take a sabbatical from all international and franchise cricket in January.
In March, when England plays three ODIs and three T20Is against Bangladesh, he is anticipated to travel that country and is also anticipated to be available for the IPL. Rehan Ahmed, the 18-year-old match winner for England in Karachi last week, was left off the roster as part of his winter management.
Instead, he will represent Gulf Giants in the ILT20 tournament in the UAE in January, and he may also be considered for the Bangladesh white-ball tour. Liam Livingstone, who had a knee injury during the Rawalpindi Test, will not be travelling with the rest of the team that toured Pakistan, and unused squad members Jamie Overton and Keaton Jennings are also not included.
Joe Root has been included in the tour, but will be limited to a few games for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 between now and then as England seeks to manage his workload ahead of the defence of the 50-over World Cup in India in November 2023. This is because England’s multi-format players face another year of competing demands.
Four players of the team will take a direct flight from South Africa to New Zealand, including Harry Brook, who was this morning’s high-profile IPL signing. Additionally, Will Jacks is scheduled to play a longer spell in the SA20, while Ben Duckett and Stone will have participated in the three-match white-ball series against South Africa.