Wisden’s England white-ball fringe XI

Here are the ground rules for this team: no-one currently holds an England central or incremental contract, nor did they make an England XI in the side’s four most recent white-ball series (T20Is against Pakistan, South Africa; ODIs and T20Is against Australia). Furthermore, all the players should have been in an England squad of sorts this year – that box is ticked through every single member of this XI’s inclusion in the 55-man training squad that was assembled at the start of the English summer.

Phil Salt

The enterprising Sussex opener is still waiting for an international debut and was called in as a reserve for the ODIs against Australia in the summer. He does have form in an England shirt, though – in July he smashed a 58-ball century against Ireland for the Lions. It was a spectacular audition, yet it wasn’t enough to land Salt a place in the squad for the three-match ODI series that followed.

Ben Duckett

Duckett has not played ODI cricket since 2016 but impressed in his three matches against Bangladesh, striking a pair of half-centuries in a 2-1 away series win that followed a run-laden season for Northants. The left-hander enjoyed a fine season for Notts in 2020, striking two centuries in the Bob Willis Trophy as well as four-half centuries and the winning runs in the T20 Blast. Back in 2016, he smashed 216* off 130 balls for England Lions against Sri Lanka A, the second highest List A score by an Englishman.

James Vince

Forever teasing fans with his cover drives and middling scores, Vince hasn’t been in an England squad since an underwhelming series against Ireland in which he returned 57 runs from three innings. Twenty-eight limited-overs internationals since 2015 have returned a couple of half-centuries, with Vince’s fringe status in the white-ball set-up best underlined when he served as a reserve batsman at the 2019 World Cup.

Sam Hain

The wait for an England call-up continues for Hain, who holds the record for the highest List A average ever (minimum 50 innings) and has three List  A centuries for the Lions to his name. With no English domestic 50-over cricket to contest in 2020, he settled for runs in the Blast, averaging 57 and striking at just under 140.

Liam Livingstone

A batsman who has had stints in the IPL, BBL, PSL and Mzansi Super League, Livingstone has so far had to settle for two uneventful T20I appearances against South Africa in 2017. One of the hardest hitters going in the county circuit, he could’ve made his ODI debut this month after been selected for the subsequently cancelled series against the Proteas.

Laurie Evans

Evans has made his name as a prolific and consistent run-scorer in the T20 Blast; since the start of the 2018 edition, his 1,335 runs in the competition have been accrued at an average of 53.4. This year he was Surrey’s leading run-scorer in their run to the final, and more recently he impressed in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer in the competition.

Liam Dawson

Dawson has played for England in all three formats since his debut in 2016 and built a reputation as a reliable operator, but he still only has 12 appearances in the bank across formats. He was in England’s World Cup-winning squad, though he didn’t get a game in the tournament.

David Willey

The left-armer was displaced by Jofra Archer in England’s World Cup squad last year and had to wait till the Ireland ODIs in the summer to make his international comeback. It proved to be a fruitful one, with Willey named Player of the Series after a five-wicket haul and batting average of 98. But that was that for his international summer; Willey failed to make the squads for the Australia series that followed.

Reece Topley

Topley returned to the international scene this year after four years out, with back injuries severely hampering his development and leaving him on the cusp of leaving the game altogether. The left-armer played one ODI against Ireland in the summer and could have added to his tally of caps this month had the South Africa 50-over games not been called off.

Olly Stone

Stone holds a pace-bowling development contract and is one of the fastest men at England’s disposal. Injuries have limited his availability, with no white-ball appearances following on from the four ODI games he played against Sri Lanka in 2018. He looked set to be unleashed in South Africa this month after exhibiting pace and taking wickets in the warm-ups.

Matt Parkinson

A dominant performer in domestic T20 cricket, Parkinson remains a leg-spinning understudy behind the in-form Adil Rashid. Willing to give the ball some flight, he took a four-for against New Zealand in a T20I last November but hasn’t played for England since February.