England have made a single change for the third ODI against South Africa in Southampton, with Jamie Overton coming in for Saqib Mahmood. Despite concerns over his recent form, Ben Duckett has been retained in the side, giving him a chance to finish the season on a high.
Duckett Retained Despite Rest Plans
Duckett has featured in all 14 of England’s home internationals this summer across formats, but his batting form has dipped in recent weeks. He managed only 5 in the first ODI and a scratchy 14 at Lord’s. Still, England’s management, led by Brendon McCullum, has decided to give him another opportunity before he takes a break from the upcoming T20I series.
Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, explained the reasoning:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅.”
Sam Curran has been added to the T20I squad as Duckett’s replacement.
Overton Returns to the Fold
Overton’s selection marks his first international appearance since deciding to step back from red-ball cricket. His inclusion is seen as a statement that he remains part of England’s white-ball strategy. England’s XI will again depend on Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, and Joe Root to share the fifth bowler’s role after struggles in the previous match.
Trescothick also stressed the importance of improving England’s ODI ranking situation:
“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒃 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔… 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚.”
England XI for the Third ODI vs South Africa
- Jamie Smith
- Ben Duckett
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook (capt)
- Jos Buttler (wk)
- Jacob Bethell
- Will Jacks
- Jamie Overton
- Brydon Carse
- Jofra Archer
- Adil Rashid
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