Zak Crawley, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson also handed first call-ups; Tom Banton named in Twenty20 squad
Monday 23 September 2019 19:59, UK
Jonny Bairstow has been left out of England's Test squad for the series in New Zealand, while Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson have received maiden call-ups.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Bairstow has been omitted from a 15-man squad after averaging under 25 in Test cricket over the last year, with Jos Buttler to take the gloves in the two Tests in November, which will not form part of the inaugural World Test Championship.
"He is a very, very good player who has probably not been playing at his best for this last spell in Test cricket," England's national selector Ed Smith said of Bairstow on Sky Sports News.
"It just feels like an opportunity for Jonny to reset and work on one or two things after a very busy summer and I think he will come back stronger from this having had a bit of time away.
"He is a central cricketer for England across the formats - he has become one of our best white-ball players and is a highly-talented Test match player - and he has a fantastic future in an England shirt."
Sibley is the leading run-scorer in the Specsavers County Championship this season with 1,324 in 13 matches prior to this week's final round of fixtures, with his five centuries including two double tons.
The 24-year-old, whose maturity was praised by England managing director Ashley Giles over the weekend, is likely to open with Rory Burns, although uncapped Kent batsman Crawley - who has notched over 800 runs in the top flight in 2019 - is another option at the top of the order.
"We wanted to pick him and he justified that selection," Smith added of Sibley. "He is someone we have watched very closely.
"He has a very clear method, he has shown the ability to bat for long periods of time very often, and, most importantly, he has produced a lot of runs. He has that temperament suited to the longer game."
Jason Roy misses out on selection after scoring just 110 runs in four Ashes Tests this summer at an average of 13.75, with his Surrey team-mate Ollie Pope - who played two Tests against India in the summer of 2018 and hit 221 for his county last month - picked as a middle-order option instead.
Lancashire leg-spinner Parkinson has been selected with Moeen Ali having requested a break from Test cricket, while injuries to pacemen James Anderson, Mark Wood and Olly Stone mean Parkinson's county team-mate Mahmood earns a spot.
Mahmood, Parkinson, Somerset opener Tom Banton and Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown are also included in a much-changed T20 party with the likes of Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Roy and Buttler rested, although Bairstow has been named in that 15-man squad.
Banton scored 549 runs in this season's Vitality Blast, including a maiden, 51-ball hundred against Kent in front of the Sky Sports cameras, as well as four half-centuries.
The 20-year-old also struck 69 as his county beat Hampshire in the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup in May, having notched two hundreds and as many fifties earlier in the competition.
Lancashire quick Mahmood claimed a tournament-high 28 wickets in the One-Day Cup, while his county colleague Parkinson claimed 21 scalps in the Blast before his side were knocked out by eventual champions Essex in the quarter-finals.
Brown helped Worcestershire to their second straight appearance in the Vitality Blast final - the 21-year-old picked up 17 wickets this season as the Rapids finished runners-up having claimed 31 in 2018 as his side lifted the trophy.
Eoin Morgan will captain the T20 side in New Zealand with it confirmed that the World Cup-winning skipper will continue to lead the white-ball side until at least the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.
Somerset seamer Lewis Gregory - who has been included in England squads before but is yet to make his debut - has also been selected for the T20s, as have Dawid Malan, Sam Billings and James Vince.
England Test squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire) captain, Jofra Archer (Sussex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Jack Leach (Somerset), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Dominic Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), James Vince (Hampshire)
Watch England's tour of New Zealand, which features five T20Is and two Tests, live on Sky Sports Cricket in October, November and December.
