Harry Brook named in England's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 squad but no place for Jason Roy

September 17, 2023

Harry Brook has been named in England's final World Cup squad, with Jason Roy missing out on selection.

The 33-year-old's place appeared in doubt after back spasms prevented him from featuring in the series win over New Zealand.

He missed three of the four one-day internationals due to the injury and was not deemed fit enough to feature in Friday's finale at Lord's.

Roy's replacement at the top of the order, Dawid Malan, scored 54, 96 and 127 to clinch his spot in the group and ensure he would be travelling to India later this month.

Brook, meanwhile, returned scores of 25, two, and 10 during the ODI series after impressing in the Hundred and England's T20 series against New Zealand.

His explosion onto the scene in the last 18 months - though he has played only six ODIs in that time, the first of them in January - has secured him a place in the esteemed final 15.

It also means that he will now drop out of the three-match one-day series against Ireland, which starts at Headingley on Wednesday.

For Roy, it is the second year in a row he has suffered heartbreak in the run-up to a major tournament.

Last September, he was dropped from the T20 squad after a dismal run of form in that format; England then went on to win the World Cup in Australia.

"It was awful, incredibly tough to take," he admitted earlier this month. "But I feel like I've had a pretty good year since."

Though it may be difficult to fathom, his disappointment was shared earlier this week when England's white-ball captain, Jos Buttler, commented on the frustration surrounding Roy's absences.

"The biggest frustration is for him. He wants to be fit, playing, and affecting cricket games for England," Buttler explained.

"He's been working hard to be fit and available, but we now have a few days to regroup - the coach, the captain, the selectors, or whatever - and just work out exactly what we need to do moving forward."

England ODI squad for World Cup
Jos Buttler (Lancashire - captain)
Moeen Ali (Warwickshire)
Gus Atkinson (Surrey)
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Dawid Malan (Yorkshire)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
Reece Topley (Surrey)
David Willey (Northamptonshire)
Mark Wood (Durham)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

England Men's national selector, Luke Wright, said: "We have selected a squad we are confident can go to India and win the World Cup.

"We are blessed with an incredibly strong group of white-ball players which was underlined by the performances in the series win against a very good New Zealand team.

"The strength of the group has meant that we have had to make some tough decisions on world-class players with Jason Roy missing out and Harry Brook coming into the squad."

'Every box ticked'

Former England player Monty Panesar told Sky Sports News:

Jason Roy obviously has got a fantastic record and he is one of the greatest ODI openers for England. But the only thing was he wasn't available to play New Zealand during this ODI series because of a back spasm. He then didn't have an opportunity to showcase where his form is at the moment.

Harry Brook, his attitude was really good and positive when he wasn't in the provisional World Cup squad. He scored 100 in The Hundred tournament, he scored a 50 during the T20 game versus New Zealand, showing the right attitude that they're looking for.

I think his game is more suited to fast bowling than to spin and, with the slow nature of pitches in India, he can bat anywhere in the top six like we know but I think an opening spot or in the top three is probably a better position if he does get an opportunity to play in India.

They've got really good spinners. Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali coming at the right time, showing how good he is as an off-spinner when he took four wickets at Lords.

We've got good pace attack. Mark Wood is bowling very fast, Gus Atkinson is the right inclusion in that squad.

It's good to see Ben Stokes. When he scored that 182 at the Oval it was probably one of the best innings we've seen from a middle order batsman in ODI cricket since Viv Richards.

Jos Buttler's been a fantastic captain for this side. So overall when you look at this squad, they've got every box ticked.

In my opinion this is the strongest squad compared to all the other teams and when they do go to India all the other teams will be looking at how England will be going about winning their games, how their team is shaping up because they have been the leading team in white ball cricket.

They are the strongest team at the moment in world cricket

England clinch ODI series win over New Zealand ahead of World Cup

Watch England's three-match ODI series against Ireland live on Sky Sports, starting with Wednesday's opener at Headingley. Coverage begins at 12pm ahead of the first ball at 12.30pm.

Watch the Cricket World Cup live in full on Sky Sports between October 5 and November 19 with England vs New Zealand kicking off the competition in a repeat of the 2019 final.

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