England recall Jake for injured Woakes for Australia ODI series
Buttler credits IPL for recent Test success Ball has taken 21 wickets
LONDON: England called up Nottinghamshire seamer Jake Ball as cover for the injured Chris Woakes in their squad to face Australia in a five-match one-day series this month.
Woakes joined Ben Stokes on the sidelines through injury when he suffered a thigh strain in England’s victory over Pakistan in the second Test.
Both will be unavailable to take on Scotland in Sunday’s one-off one-day international and for the “first part” of the series against Australia.
Ball played the last of his 17 ODIs to date at Perth in January in the 4-1 series victory over Australia. He has taken 21 wickets, with a best of five for 51, but averages 45.28.
“Nottinghamshire seamer Jake Ball has been drafted into England’s ODI squad for the Royal London series against Australia as cover for all-rounder Chris Woakes,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.
“Woakes, who will be unavailable for the first part of the series with a right quad strain, joins Ben Stokes (left hamstring tear) on the injured list.
“Both players have commenced their injury rehab programmes and will be hoping to respond to treatment with the aim of featuring in the latter stages of the series.”
England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler says his stint in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) helped his return to the test arena by forcing him to concentrate on making runs rather than losing his wicket.
Buttler was dropped from England’s test side at the end of 2016 following a poor run of form but his consistency in limited-overs cricket, along with his highflying IPL run, earned the 27-year-old a surprise test recall last month.
The hard-hitting batsman, who recorded five halfcenturies in his last six matches for Rajasthan Royals, made two against Pakistan, scoring 67 and 80 in two Tests.
“Those couple of weeks in the IPL gave me huge amounts of confidence, playing in front of those crowds, the pressure of being an overseas player,” Buttler told British media.
“The tough thing with test cricket is that if you get out early, you’ve got a long time to think about it. In T20, you just move on.”
England squad to play Australia in the five-match one-day international series:
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Fixtures:
Jun 13: 1st ODI, The Oval (1200 GMT) Jun 16: 2nd ODI, Cardiff (1000 GMT) Jun 19: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge (1300 GMT) Jun 21: 4th ODI, Chester-le-Street (1300 GMT) Jun 25: 5th ODI, Old Trafford, (1000 GMT) Note: Matches starting at 1000 GMT day games, others day/night. — Agencies