The Ashes will be the centrepiece for many this cricketing winter but there is also a big white-ball tournament on the horizon: the latest T20 World Cup.
After serving as Ben Stokes’ vice-captain in the Tests against Australia across November and January, Harry Brook will then skipper England in a global competition for the first time, having been appointed Jos Buttler’s white-ball successor earlier this year.
But what might his T20 squad look like for that event?
England XI for first T20 against New Zealand on Saturday
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (captain), Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Jordan Cox, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood
Other squad members: Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Zak Crawley, Jamie Overton
England are slated to play six T20 internationals before the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka across February and March – three in New Zealand over the course of the next week and then a further three in Sri Lanka after the Ashes draws to a close.
Those games will give England the chance to fine-tune their plans – or rip them up and start again if things go wrong, with the following players certain, likely or hoping to be involved in the World Cup…
The openers
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England have an embarrassment of riches in this area with Phil Salt surely nailed on for a spot at the top of the order after his national-record 39-ball century against South Africa in September, a knock which helped his side score over 300 in Manchester.
Jos Buttler was Salt’s opening partner – the pair slamming a stand of 126 from 47 balls – with the two reunited after Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith fulfilled those roles against West Indies while Salt was on paternity leave and Buttler batted at No 3.
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Phil Salt hit an England-record 39-ball hundred during September’s run-fest against South Africa in Manchester
Duckett and Smith were rested against South Africa after a long summer and they will also sit out the T20s against New Zealand ahead of The Ashes so Salt and Buttler will be up top once again in the first game, although Test opener Zak Crawley will hope to be given a T20I debut at some point.
Only Buttler and Jordan Cox scored more runs in The Hundred this year than Crawley.
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Zak Crawley, who impressed for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred, is in England’s T20I squad for the series in New Zealand
The middle order
We know Buttler will be in England’s World Cup XI and if that is not as opener it will be at No 3 – the same surely applies to Duckett – as part of a potent middle-order containing Brook and Jacob Bethell.
Tom Banton has become a regular part of the squad/side over the last few months, while Cox has been rewarded for his Hundred pyrotechnics with Oval Invincibles, maiden Vitality Blast hundred for Essex, and first England fifty in the T20 series versus Ireland, with a place in the squad to tour New Zealand.
Sam Curran is also back in favour and gives England a lot – a left-handed batter who can tonk the ball a considerable distance and left-handed seamer whose tricks include sub-50mph moon balls.
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Joe Root smashed 76 from 41 balls for Trent Rockets in The Hundred this summer
There are also the names of Joe Root and Ben Stokes to possibly factor in, however unlikely it appears right now, they will be part of the World Cup squad.
Root has not played a T20 international since 2019 but was England’s leading run-scorer when the World Cup was last held in India back in 2016 and there may be some games where his coolness under pressure could be a handy option.
Test skipper Stokes is focused on the red-ball game, as well, but if he is not too flogged after The Ashes and makes himself available, it will be hard for England to say no. He did play major hands in the 2019 50-over World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup wins after all.
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The all-rounders
Loopy off-spinner and big-hitting batter Will Jacks – not in New Zealand as he recovers from a broken little finger – has become a firm favourite of management so expect him to head to the World Cup as a potential No 7.
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Will Jacks is a regular member of England’s white-ball sides – although a broken little finger means he is missing the New Zealand series
Jacks’ Surrey team-mate Jamie Overton is a probable pick as a seam-bowling all-rounder, banging the ball into the deck from a great height and also banging the ball into the stands on occasion.
But time is running out for Liam Livingstone to force his way back in, with the Lancashire man overlooked by England since the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
His ability to bowl off and leg-spin is alluring and you will struggle to find someone who hits a longer ball but it appears England may have moved on from the 32-year-old.
The spinners
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Adil Rashid remains a master of his craft. Check out how he dismissed West Indies’ Shai Hope during the second T20 this summer
This looks a simple one. The ageless Adil Rashid – who said recently that he was not ruling out playing to the age of 40 or beyond – is nailed on to go, and will probably be joined by fellow leg-break bowler Rehan Ahmed and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson.
Bethell and Jacks would provide supplementary spin options.
The seamers
Depending on how battered and bruised bowlers’ bodies are after The Ashes, we will likely see Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse and maybe Mark Wood, too, at the World Cup.
Another Wood, Luke, has bowled well for England of late and offers a left-arm option that the team ignored in the early stages of Brendon McCullum’s reign as white-ball head coach.
Saqib Mahmood, currently absent with a minor knee issue, is a likely traveller and England do admire Sonny Baker, although the latter endured two chastening white-ball debuts for his country, panned for 0-76 from seven overs on his ODI bow against South Africa and 0-52 from four in a T20 versus Ireland.
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Look at Sonny Baker’s chastening ODI debut as the young England fast bowler conceded 76 runs across a wicketless seven overs
To throw two bolters into the mix, why not Josh Tongue and Scott Currie?
Tongue has only played red-ball cricket for England so far but topped the wicket-taking charts in The Hundred, bagging 14 for Manchester Originals, while Currie managed nine for the Originals and claimed 27 for Hampshire in the Vitality Blast.
Scotland international Currie was added to England’s T20 squad in Ireland last month before being released so he could play in Hampshire’s One Day Cup final against Worcestershire – a game in which he recorded figures of 5-34.
New Zealand vs England fixtures
All times UK and Ireland
First T20: Saturday October 18 (7.15am) – ChristchurchSecond T20: Monday October 20 (7.15am) – ChristchurchThird T20: Thursday October 23 (7.15am) – AucklandFirst ODI: Sunday October 26 (1am) – Mount MaunganuiSecond ODI: Wednesday October 29 (1am) – HamiltonThird ODI: Saturday November 1 (1am) – Wellington