Jamie Smith has been left out of England’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup, but injured bowler Jofra Archer was included despite nursing a side strain.

Smith has been short of his form in Test cricket for England in the Ashes series, managing just 139 runs from eight innings at an average under 20.

The wicketkeeper made a half-century at Adelaide Oval, but has failed to fire in the majority of England’s games away from home with Australia holding a 3-1 lead.

READ MORE: Iconic Aussie legend ‘in fight of his life’ in hospital

READ MORE: Million-dollar stars among 154 in limbo heading into 2026

READ MORE: Scorchers star hit by terrible luck in search for maiden ton

Jamie Smith Getty

Jos Buttler will wear the gloves for the tournament, while some other in-form batters have been selected over Smith in the squad.

The big surprise was the inclusion of Archer, who was ruled out of the final two games of the Ashes due to a side strain suffered in the third Test.

Archer took six wickets in Adelaide in a loss which condemned England to a 3-0 deficit but was the best the Barbados-born quick had looked all series.

Archer had nine wickets overall in the Ashes and contributed with his maiden Test half-century in his final game, which could make him a valuable lower-order T20 hitter.

The ECB said Archer was named only in the squad for the T20 World Cup — which is co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka and starts in early February.

Archer was not included in the T20 or ODI squads for matches against Sri Lanka leading up to the tournament.

Jofra Archer during the Ashes Getty

Joe Root was included in the ODI squad for the three games against Sri Lanka, but as expected, not for the T20 World Cup.

England begin their World Cup campaign in Group C against Nepal on February 8.

England T20 World Cup squad

Harry Brook (c), 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