Mahmood, Gregory earn T20I call-ups as Morgan returns as England captain

Fast bowler Saqib Mahmood and Lewis Gregory have been rewarded for their stellar performances in England's 3-0 ODI series win over Pakistan with recalls to the T20I squad, as Eoin Morgan returns to lead the side alongside eight others who were required to self-isolate following a Covid-19 outbreak during the Sri Lanka series earlier this month.

Mahmood was named Player of the Series in the Pakistan ODIs, after claiming nine wickets at 13.66 in the three matches. He impressed throughout with his pace, accuracy and hostility, particularly in the powerplay, and is in line to play his first T20I since Pakistan's last visit to England in September last year.

Gregory meanwhile was barely any less influential, with vital runs and wickets across all three matches, including a Player-of-the-Match display in the second game at Lord's, and a crucial 77 from 69 balls at Edgbaston, as England chased a ground-record 332 to complete their series clean sweep. He too has not played T20Is since the Pakistan series last summer.

Jos Buttler, England's vice-captain, is also back in the reckoning after missing the Sri Lanka series with a calf tear that had, at one stage, seemed likely to keep him sidelined for the entire white-ball leg of the summer.

There is, however, no place in the 16-player squad for England's interim captain, Ben Stokes, who was recalled ahead of schedule to lead the makeshift squad, having initially been expected to continue working on his form and fitness with Durham, following the broken finger he sustained at the IPL in April.

Chris Silverwood, who had to cancel a family holiday when the Covid outbreak caused England's squad upheaval, is set to go back on leave with Paul Collingwood returning to oversee the team's fortunes as interim head coach.
Notable absentees from England's last T20I squad, against Sri Lanka in June, include Sam Curran, who was named player of the series in the 3-0 clean sweep, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, all of whom are likely to feature in England's Test plans for the series against India next month, as well as Sam Billings, who was also part of the Test squad against New Zealand last month.

An ECB statement confirmed that all 16 players and support staff returned negative Covid-19 tests to clear them for the series, which gets underway at Trent Bridge on July 16.

England Squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey.