Joe Clarke among players placed on Covid standby for England tour of West Indies

NICK FRIEND: Clarke has never been called up to an England squad, but he has been tipped for some time as the next cab off the rank

Nottinghamshire batter Joe Clarke is among the players on standby as a Covid reserve for England's Test series against West Indies.

When speaking to The Cricketer in November, Clarke revealed that he had been involved in no direct communication with the ECB for two and a half years, though Eoin Morgan confirmed recently that his name has been discussed in white-ball selection meetings.

He was a regular in England Lions squads but has not featured since being stood down ahead of a tour to India after revelations of his off-field behaviour emerged during the rape trial of former Worcestershire teammate Alex Hepburn.

Clarke was not suspected of committing an offence, but he was named as a member of a WhatsApp group that featured disrespectful comments about women. Along with then-teammate Tom Kohler-Cadmore, he was fined and served a suspension after being found to have brought the game into disrepute by the ECB.

The 25-year-old has spent much of his winter on white-ball duty, impressing in the Big Bash before leaving a Pakistan Super League stint early due to injury. He has not entered the Indian Premier League auction.

Clarke, who will not travel to the Caribbean unless one of the tourists test positive for Covid or suffer an injury ahead of the squad's departure, has never been called up to a full England squad.

But he has been tipped for some time as the next cab off the rank – in red-ball cricket initially, before breaking through as a limited-over player more recently.

^{Joe Clarke had a fruitful spell in the Big Bash with Melbourne Stars (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)}

"I don't want to be a T20 specialist or a red-ball specialist," he told The Cricketer before flying out to Australia in November to represent Melbourne Stars, for whom he made 419 runs and hit five half centuries. "I want to play all three formats and to be one of the best in all three."

At 25 years of age, he has 18 first-class hundreds and has never gone through an English summer without one. Even in his leaner seasons, he has managed to maintain that record, reaching three figures in the final game of each of the last two campaigns. He made seven fifties as well in 2021.

"I'd love my average to be where it was three years ago when it was 40-plus," he added. "My ideal place would be to be playing in that Test arena – the game gets quicker, but you play on better wickets and stuff like that."

His position as a possible call-up to the first squad selected since Sir Andrew Strauss' appointment as interim managing director comes amid wholesale changes from the party that was comprehensively beaten in the Ashes. As well as Stuart Broad and James Anderson's well-documented absences, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings, Haseeb Hameed, Rory Burns and Dom Bess have also been excluded.

With only two openers selected in the squad – Alex Lees and Zak Crawley – the batting line-up will mostly pick itself. The Cricketer understands that Joe Root has been told he will bat at No.3, while a middle order of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and one of Ollie Pope or Dan Lawrence appears likely.

Warwickshire seamer Liam Norwell is also among the list of reserves.