England in West Indies: Ollie Pope, John Turner and stop clock part of fresh start for Jos Buttler’s men in white-ball cricket
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After a shocking Cricket World Cup, it is out with the old and in with the new for England in the West Indies.
Just six players that were part of the group-stage exit in India are in the squad for the three-match one-day international series in the Caribbean, with skipper Jos Buttler joined by Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse.
Chances could be awarded to the uncapped John Turner as well as Ollie Pope, with the latter in line for his first international white-ball appearance after 38 Test matches for his country.
Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, swashbuckling batter Will Jacks and Test opener Zak Crawley should also add to their single-figure number of limited-overs caps.
The T20 squad features a shade more experience with the short-form World Cup in West Indies and USA next summer firmly in mind.
Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills and Reece Topley are some of the older heads in the group for that five-match series.
But here are some of the fresh names – and one particular innovation – to look out for over the coming weeks…
Ollie Pope
Pope had become a regular in England’s Test team at No 3 before a dislocated shoulder ended his Ashes campaign early and he sat out the final three games of that drawn series.
The Surrey batter played the most recent of his 38 List A games over two years ago and has not featured in any white-ball cricket since turning out for Welsh Fire in the 2022 edition of The Hundred.
Ollie Pope has been called into England’s one-day international squad for the first time
However, he showed while cracking a 207-ball double ton against Ireland this summer – the fastest 200 in a Test in England – that he is no slouch and he could conceivably join Crawley and Ben Duckett in the ODI top three, just as he does in red-ball cricket.
John Turner
Johannesburg-born Turner earned a maiden England call-up for the T20I series against New Zealand this summer, only for a side injury sustained playing for Trent Rockets in The Hundred to force him out.
The 22-year-old – who qualifies for England through a Zambian mother born to English parents – is back now, though, for both T20 and ODI cricket.
I’m not necessarily a traditional English bowler that’s going to try to swing it away and nick you off. I’m just going to try and hit a hard length, be consistent there and bowl as fast as I can.
Turner’s rise has been rapid.
He only made his T20 debut for Hampshire in June but could now make his England bow in December after a whirlwind few months, during which he picked up 21 wicket in 11 Vitality Blast games and cleaned up Jonny Bairstow in The Hundred for his first dismissal in that format.
The paceman’s ability to bowl over 90mph has put him on the radar with quick bowling seen as key in the way England want to construct their attack going forward.
It is why Atkinson is in the squad and why Josh Tongue was before an untimely injury ruled him out of the tour and denied him a white-ball debut, for the time being at least.
Fringe players
Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed is in a much-changed 50-over party after the poor World Cup campaign
With Ben Stokes going under the knife to fix his longstanding left knee issue and Joe Root, Mark Wood and Bairstow rested ahead of the five-Test series in India early next year, a number of younger and fringe players can stake a claim as England build for the 2025 Champions Trophy and 2027 World Cup.
Crawley captained his country for the ODIs against Ireland in September and looks a long-term prospect at the top of the order, while Ahmed appears the long-term successor to Rashid as England’s white-ball leg spinner and also offers lower-order batting.
The other frontline spinner in the ODI group is left-armer Hartley, the 6ft 4in Lancashire player who made two appearances against Ireland a few months back and whose height and quick bowling pace have him earmarked for the upcoming Test trip to India.
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Check out the best bits from Phil Salt’s 61 from just 27 deliveries against Ireland this summer
Phil Salt has already played 32 white-ball matches for England – 16 ODIs and as many T20Is – with four scores of fifty-plus including a best of 122 against Netherlands and could press his claims up top with Dawid Malan dropped and Bairstow given a breather, although Jacks is another contender to open.
Jacks – one of two men, alongside Will Smeed, to score a hundred in The Hundred – struck 94 in the Ireland series.
Duckett is a batting option, too, able to operate at the top of the order or in the middle. The Nottinghamshire man, the sole left-hander among the out-and-out batters with Malan axed and Stokes unavailable, scored 107 in his last ODI outing, against Ireland.
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Watch highlights from Ben Duckett’s maiden ODI hundred, which he scored against Ireland in September
Stop clock
The West Indies vs England ODI series will be the first to use the stop clock that is being trialled by the ICC in international limited-overs games between December 2023 and April 2024.
A stop clock will be used to ensure the bowling side does not take too long between overs
Fielding teams will be required to begin a new over within 60 seconds of the previous one ending, with a five-run penalty imposed if they fail three times to commence a new over in under a minute.
Follow England’s white-ball tour of West Indies with live blogs and reports across skysports.com and the Sky Sports App. The opening ODl is in Antigua on Sunday with the first ball at 1.30pm.
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