England name Jofra Archer in provisional squad for the T20 World Cup
Josh Tongue, who was player of the match for the Ashes victory at the MCG last week, is named in an England T20 squad for the first time
Jofra Archer has been named in England’s provisional 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in February and March.
The 30-year-old took nine wickets at 27.11 against Australia in the first three Tests of the on-going Ashes series, but is currently recovering from a side strain which ruled him out of the last two matches.
But England believe he is on track to be fit in time for the World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Josh Tongue, who was player of the match for England’s Test victory at the MCG last week, is named in an England T20 squad for the first time, but Brydon Carse — England’s leading wicket taker in the Ashes series to date, with 19 — misses out despite playing in 10 T20 internationals in 2025.
All-rounder Will Jacks is also included after he missed the white-ball series in New Zealand in October. Sonny Baker, Jordan Cox, Jamie Smith and Matthew Potts all miss out.
England, who will be captained by Harry Brook, have until January 31 to name their final squad, with the tournament starting on February 7.
They have been drawn in a group with West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal and first-time qualifiers Italy and will play their matches in Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) and Kolkata (Eden Gardens).
England won the T20 World Cup in 2022, beating Pakistan in the final (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The top two sides from each of the four groups will progress to the Super 8 phase (two groups of four), with semi-finals and a final thereafter.
England provisional T20 World Cup squad: Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood.
Before the tournament England will play three ODIs (on January 22, 24 and 27) and three T20s (January 30, February 1 and 3) against Sri Lanka.
The same T20 squad for the World Cup will play in those three T20 warm-ups, apart from Archer who will continue his rehabilitation. Carse takes his place in that squad.
The ODI squad, also of 15 players, features Zak Crawley — who returns to the fold for the first time since December 2023.
Otherwise it is a similar group to the T20 list apart from Tongue and Phil Salt, while Joe Root is included.
England ODI squad to tour Sri Lanka: Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Luke Wood_._