ECB names 50-member training group; Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett miss out

Image Credits: Twitter/@ICC

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced a list of 50 players who will return to training as the side look to return to action behind closed doors, subject to the clearance from United Kingdom government.

"The ECB can confirm the group of men’s players who have been asked to return to training, as England Men prepare for the prospect of behind-closed-doors cricket, subject to UK Government clearance," the ECB said in an official statement.

Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Aecger, Rory Burns, Adil Rashid, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Joe Root are some of the big names in the 50-member list.

Meanwhile, Alex Hales and Liam Plunkett are some of the notable omissions from the list.

The board further said that it would continue to work closely with its county clubs in order to provide safe return to practice for its players.

"The ECB continues to work closely with its county partners to provide a safe and efficient return to practice for players, and is grateful for the support of the counties in assisting with the coaching provision across this period," the statement added. 

Reflecting on the same, ECB Performance Director Mo Bobat said that it is good to see a pool of players return to training and give selectors strong options when it comes to selecting squads.

“It’s really pleasing to be in a position to have players returning to training and a huge amount of work has been done by many to get us this far. The pool of players will give selectors strong options when it comes to selecting squads across formats further down the line, as we move closer to our aim of playing international cricket this summer," Bobat said.

Earlier in the day, the ECB announced further delay to the start of the professional domestic cricket season in the country until at least August 1 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that continues to threat the entire world.

However, the international cricket could resume in the country as early as in July as England's three-match Test series against West Indies at home is likely to go ahead as per schedule in 'biosecure' environment. 

The full list is as follows:

Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Dom Bess, Sam Billings, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Henry Brookes, Pat Brown, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse , Mason Crane, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Joe Denly, Ben Duckett, Laurie Evans, Ben Foakes, Richard Gleeson, Lewis Gregory, Sam Hain,Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Chris Jordan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, James Vince, Amar Virdi, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.