Dawid Malan ruled out of England contention by injury as selector Ed Smith hails "great opportunity" for uncapped players

Malan sustained a calf problem during training and was ruled out of the entire three-match campaign prior to the announcement of the players who will move into the Ageas Bowl on June 23

Dawid Malan was not considered for selection for England’s 30-man training party ahead of the Test series against West Indies because of an injury.

Malan sustained a calf problem during training and was ruled out for the entire three-match campaign prior to the announcement of the players who will move into the Ageas Bowl on June 23.

England’s behind-closed-doors training group will live and train at the Southampton venue for eight days ahead of a three-day practice match from July 1, the format of which has yet to be decided.

After that match, the selectors will pick a formal Test squad to face West Indies at the Ageas from July 8.

National selector Ed Smith suggested that the squad may be bigger than usual, with the possibility of Covid-19 substitutes coming into play, but the England management will review the situation once inside the bubble environment on the south coast before determining precisely how many players will be required.

“I will be in the bubble and constantly chatting to Chris Silverwood and Joe Root about what they think they’ll need. We will name a Test squad in something like the normal way – it might be a little bit bigger than normal – after the internal match ahead of the Test match. Then there’ll probably be some reserves that stay with us too,” he said.

“I expect it will be a little bit less than 30 but we’re not exactly clear how many players we’ll want or need at this stage and we will be adaptive and nimble and make sure we have all the bases covered.”

The squad named in early July will be subject to change after the first Test, ahead of the series switching to Emirates Old Trafford for the second and third matches.

The county coaches who have been seconded to the national setup - Gloucestershire’s Richard Dawson, Kent’s Matt Walker, Lancashire’s Glen Chapple, and Chris Read of Nottinghamshire - are expected to remain with the England team for the duration of the Test series against West Indies, potentially as late as July 28.

^{England selector Ed Smith}

The ECB have already delayed county cricket’s restart until at least August 1.

Eight uncapped players have been included in the 30-strong party, with Gloucestershire wicketkeeper batsman James Bracey, Dan Lawrence of Essex, and Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson among their number.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for those players, many of whom were on the successful Lions trip to Australia,” Smith said.

“It’s a great opportunity for those players to join up with an England training group and to rub shoulders with the best players in the country and established players in the Test team.

“We are excited about the depth we have in England Cricket.”

Moeen Ali is also part of the group, having not played a Test for his country in nearly a year. Moeen made himself unavailable for selection for international red-ball cricket for part of the winter.

England are expecting Joe Root to miss part of the series to be at the birth of his second child. Ben Stokes would assume the captaincy in Root’s absence.

Smith told the BBC: “That’s something we’re prepared for, Joe missing a Test, but the decision we wouldn’t prejudge. Why would you? Issues in this area are not precise medical science. 

“We will see what happens. We wish Joe and his family all the best, and it’s a very important phase of life for everyone in that family. He has our full support to be with them and we have plans in place if Joe isn’t there but we’ll come to that when it happens.

“I always believe that even though the captain is absolutely essential in cricket, I understand that, leadership is more than just one man. We’ve seen (Eoin) Morgan has been a fantastic white-ball cricket, Root had great success in South Africa with young players coming through and he’s got some very good senior players too. 

“Ben Stokes is one, Jos Buttler has also acted as vice captain in the past. There is some strong leadership across the group as well as some good captains.”

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