Wednesday, February 10th, 2016

Moeen Ali Named In England World T20 Squad

Moeen Ali Named In England World T20 Squad

Moeen Ali has been included in England's 15 man squad for the ICC World T20 which gets underway in India next month.

The Worcestershire all-rounder is looking forward to his second World T20 competition.

The 28-year-old played against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Netherlands in the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.

Moeen has made 10 T20I appearances for England, having scored 129 runs at a strike rate of 119.44 and with bowling figures of 17-0-127-4 at an economy rate of 7.47.

He is one of seven squad members along with skipper Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid with previous World T20 experience.

England’s campaign begins on 16 March against West Indies with South Africa, Sri Lanka and a qualifier their other opponents in the group stages.

The squad includes one uncapped player, Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson who impressed during the recent England Lions series against Pakistan A.

Although not originally selected for the current limited overs series against the Proteas, Dawson will travel to South Africa later this week to meet up with his team mates.

Finn is missing the current ODI and T20 series in South Africa with a side strain.

Former Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene will join the coaching team for the first 10 days of the tournament with former England T20 captain Paul Collingwood working alongside Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson for the duration.

National selector, James Whitaker, said: “The limited overs cricket played in the last eight months has been incredibly exciting to watch and these players deserve the honour of representing England at a global event.

"We have made significant progress during recent series with plenty more to come over the next few years.

“Liam Dawson has been selected after consistently strong performances for the Lions recently against Pakistan A. As a left arm spinning all-rounder he will be a very useful addition particularly in sub continent conditions.

“Congratulations to all selected and on behalf of the selectors good luck to Eoin and Trevor.”

Andrew Strauss, Director of England Cricket, said: “Mahela Jayawardene and Paul Collingwood proved very popular additions to the coaching team when they spent time with England in the UAE earlier this winter and I’m delighted that they are both able to help our T20 side.

"Their international experience, previous success at World T20 tournaments and, particularly in Mahela’s case, knowledge of conditions make them ideal resources to tap into and I have no doubt the players will gain a huge amount from having them around the dressing room.”

England ICC World T20 squad

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (Capt)

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

Sam Billings (Kent)

Jos Buttler (Lancashire)

Liam Dawson (Hampshire)

Steven Finn (Middlesex)

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)

Chris Jordan (Sussex)

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)

Joe Root (Yorkshire)

Jason Roy (Surrey)

Ben Stokes (Durham)

Reece Topley (Hampshire)

James Vince (Hampshire)

David Willey (Yorkshire)