Stuart Broad and Ben Duckett have been called up to an England Squad of 55 players as the ECB have asked the selected to return to training in preparation for a proposed rescheduled summer of cricket.<\/p>\n
For Broad it is no surprise as one of the countries all time leading wicket takers and best ever bowlers to be included for the get together but for Duckett it comes as great news for a young player aged just 25 who only made his T20 international debut last May.<\/p>\n
Duckett said on selection\u00a0\u201cOn a cricketing note, it\u2019s going to be great to get a little bit of normality back and get training \u2013 and to be able to work\u00a0on my game.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the names in this group, there are some very good players, so for me it\u2019s good to be in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was able to play for England this summer, the big thing for me would be\u00a0to capitalise on that and try and get into the squad more consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n
One notable omission from the squad is Notts batsmen Alex Hales who has been fine form as one of the leading run scorers in the world in white ball cricket impressing in the winters Big Bash in Australia having took time out from the game last summer. The absence of a maverick in Hales has surprised the likes of Michael Vaughan and Samit Patel \u2018vocally\u2019 to name a few whilst England white ball skipper Eoin Morgan stated \u201cIt’s obviously not about performance with Alex” suggesting “Playing cricket for England is about on and off the field – values we adhere to – and Alex showed complete disregard for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I’ve spoken to Alex and certainly see an avenue for him to come back to playing cricket but, like in life and in any sport, when there’s a breakdown of trust, the only healer in that is time.<\/p>\n
“It’s only been 12 or 13 months since the incident which could have cost us four years of hard work. Given it could have derailed a World Cup campaign, I think it might take some more time, yes.”<\/p>\n
“He needs to build that trust back up for as long as he can and then hopefully an opportunity will present itself down the line.”<\/p>\n