In a heartbreaking note, Jonny Bairstow made everyone aware of the fact that he won't be available for games in the immediate future after suffering a lower limb injury in a freak accident.
"Unfortunately I am going to be unavailable of all games/ tours in the immediate future. The reason being is that I have injured my lower leg in a freak accident and it shall need an operation. The injury came when I slipped on the golf course this morning. I am gutted and want to wish everyone for this week at The Oval all the best firstly and the boys that are going to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Absolutely gutted! I will be back… Jonathan Marc," wrote Bairstow in his Instagram post.
"England and Yorkshire batter Jonathan Bairstow has been ruled out of the rest of the summer and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Bairstow sustained a lower limb injury in a freak accident whilst playing golf on Friday in Leeds. He will see a specialist next week to ascertain the full extent of the injury," ECB said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Ben Duckett has replaced Bairstow for the 3rd test vs South Africa.
"Nottinghamshire batter Ben Duckett has been added to the Test squad for the LV= Insurance third Test at the Kia Oval starting next Thursday," said ECB.
As of now, ECB hasn't named Bairstow's replacement for the T20 World Cup.
"A further announcement will be made in due course on who will replace Bairstow in England’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.," ECB said.
Earlier, England announced a 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
"England Men's selection panel have named a squad of 15 for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia starting in October. Seam bowlers Chris Woakes and Mark Wood have recovered from their respective injuries and have been named in both squads for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and the IT20 tour of Pakistan in September," said ECB in a statement.
In addition to the 15-man squad, the selection panel has also named three travelling reserves in Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson and Tymal Mills.
15-man Squad
- Jos Buttler - Captain
- Moeen Ali
- Jonathan Bairstow* - Now Ruled Out | No Replacement Named
- Harry Brook
- Sam Curran
- Chris Jordan
- Liam Livingstone
- Dawid Malan
- Adil Rashid
- Phil Salt
- Ben Stokes
- Reece Topley
- David Willey
- Chris Woakes
- Mark Wood
Travelling Reserves
- Liam Dawson
- Richard Gleeson
- Tymal Mills
Defending champions Australia too announced their World Cup squad. The Aaron Finch-led squad is currently playing a three-match series against Zimbabwe that will be later followed by the New Zealand series and the tour of India.
Tim David happens to be the only change when the 2021 T20I squad and the 2022 T20I World Cup squad are compared. David replaced Swepson in this Australian squad.
"Tim (David) continues to establish himself with some quality performances in leagues around the world, earning a place in the squad. He is a highly gifted, natural ball striker who will add extra batting depth to the group which has had a lot of success in T20 cricket. We expect him to play a similar role to that he has been playing in the past few years", said Australian Chair of Selectors George Bailey.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Aaron Finch (c), Pat Cummins (vc), Ashton Agar, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zamp
