Eight World Cup winners in England squad for Ireland ODIs but Phil Salt misses out despite century

Salt hit a 58-ball century for England Lions in Sunday's warm-up win over Ireland
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Will Macpherson27 July 2020

England's enviable strength in depth in white-ball cricket was on display as Phil Salt smashed a 58-ball century in a warm-up against Ireland yesterday, then was left out of the squad for the ODI series which begins on Thursday.

There are no uncapped players in the strong 14-man squad, but notable returns for left-arm quicks Reece Topley and David Willey.

Topley has not played for England for more than four years due to a succession of injuries, while Willey has been on the outer since missing out on last year’s World Cup squad to Jofra Archer.

England have slimmed their 24-man training squad to 14, plus three reserves (with the uncapped Richard Gleeson among them), for the three-match series at the Ageas Bowl that starts on Thursday.

Willey was unlucky to miss out on selection for last summer's World Cup
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There are eight World Cup winners in the squad, but no place for Salt. He smashed 14 fours and two sixes in his century for England Lions against Ireland yesterday, but will now return to Sussex. The Lions chased 297, with James Vince (66 off 43) and Sam Billings (54 off 36) also impressing. They both made the squad.

Joe Denly, who was released from the Test squad last week, is also included.

England squad to face Ireland: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) Captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire)

Reserves: Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)