In an exclusive interview with Headstrong: An Innings With, Liam Plunkett expressed his disappointment at the manner in which his England omission was handled.

Plunkett was a key member of England’s white-ball resurgence after the 2015 World Cup and was pivotal in their triumph four years later in 2019. England won all seven World Cup games Plunkett was involved in; in the final, he took figures of 3-42 including the key breakthrough of New Zealand skipper and player of the tournament Kane Williamson.

Plunkett, now 36, hasn’t represented England since that famous day at Lord’s. In his 40-minute interview with Headstrong: An Innings With, he explained that while he understood the rationale of England seeking to field younger players with an eye on the future, he was disappointed by the absence of communication from the England set-up over his omission for the winter tour of New Zealand in 2019.

“I can see where they were going it’s just the way it was done,” Plunkett explained. “I found out on Twitter that I wasn’t going to South Africa [New Zealand], surely they can give me a call. It was just the way it was done; I thought it was shit to be honest with you.

“If someone actually called me to say, ‘Listen, being realistic, we’re going to go with the youngsters, thanks for everything you’ve done.”

On the day the new-look England squad for the New Zealand tour was announced, Plunkett took to Twitter to voice his disappointment over his omission, saying, “Disappointed is an understatement”.

“Just the way it was dealt with, nobody really made a call,” Plunkett went on to say. “I got a call when the England squad played in the bubble, I think it was a 40-man squad [55]. I got a phone call a year later off Ed Smith [after he was first dropped] saying, ‘Mate, you’re not in the squad.’ And I was like, ‘It’s pretty late now, you could have called me a year ago.’

“It had sort of sailed by, there was no need to call [at that point]. It was just the way it was dealt with. I could see where they were going.”

You can listen to the full interview with Plunkett on the Headstrong podcast, available to listen to on all the usual podcast hosting platforms. Headstrong: An Innings With supports the Ruth Strauss Foundation and is exclusively previewed by Wisden.com.