England resting Stokes, Archer, Curran during South Africa tour

London, November 3

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Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran will go home early from England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa next month.

They will play only the three-match T20 series from November 27-December 1, after being rested from the three-match ODI series from December 4-9.

Stokes only recently returned to action in the Indian Premier League after extended leave to visit his seriously ill father Ged in New Zealand.

But England and Wales Cricket Board director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles and limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan have stressed the need to prioritise the mental health of players as England seeks to navigate its way through the coronavirus pandemic.

Archer said last week he was counting down the days until he was “free again”, having spent much of the last few months in bio-secure environments, first with England then in the IPL in the United Arab Emirates.

Curran, too, has had a heavy workload as he has juggled England duties with his IPL commitments.

There is no room again in the T20 squad for Test captain Joe Root or seamer Chris Woakes.

Warwickshire paceman Olly Stone, Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone, and Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory have been named in the ODI group in the absence of Stokes, Curran and Archer.

England will stay in a bio-secure bubble in Cape Town, and play at Newlands and Boland Park in Paarl without spectators.

England Squad

T20: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.

ODI: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. AP