England Batsmen Joe Denly and Dan Lawrence and fast bowlers in Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson and Olly Stone have been released from England’s extended Test squad at Old Trafford. All the five players were inside a bio-secure bubble as reserves for their teammates.
It was reported earlier this week that England would release a few players from their biosecurity bubble. Veteran seamer James Anderson, who is currently playing the third Test, had also hoped to visit his home before the series against Pakistan.
Joe Denly added to ODI training group
Out of the aforementioned five players, only Denly had received the opportunity to play a match. Having scored 18 and 29 in the first Test in Southampton, Denly was benched for captain Joe Root in the subsequent matches.
While Denly will return to Southampton to join the 24-member ODI training group for the Ireland series, Lawrence (Essex), Overton (Somerset), Robinson (Kent) and Stone (Warwickshire) will report to their respective counties to take part in the Bob Willis Trophy starting from August 1.
Denly had come under severe criticism after the Southampton Test as critics weren’t pleased with him frequently getting to starts only to waste them eventually.
Despite concerns over his Test future, Denly seems to be part of England’s plans in ODIs. After all, he was England’s highest run-scorer on the back of scoring 153 runs at an average of 76.50 and a strike rate of 84.06 during their last ODI series in South Africa.
With the training group playing their second intra-squad match today, Denly is expected to represent England Lions against Ireland on Sunday. At 34, the right-hand batsman would be hoping to replicate his white-ball form in South Africa to retain his place in the side.
England vs Ireland Match Dates:
30 July: 1st ODI, Southampton
1 August: 2nd ODI, Southampton
4 August: 3rd ODI, Southampton
