England training squad includes 13 uncapped players but no Hales | Sport

England have named a bumper 55-man training group, with a host of new and returning faces joining the core squad.

Thirteen uncapped players from the county game have been invited to resume work under English and Wales Cricket Board guidance: Dan Lawrence, James Bracey, Phil Salt, Henry Brookes, Brydon Carse, Amar Virdi, Laurie Evans, Will Jacks, Ollie Robinson, Richard Gleeson, Sam Hain, Tom Helm and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

There are also returns for Pat Brown, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, David Willey and Reece Topley but there is no place for the World Cup winner Liam Plunkett or the out of favour Alex Hales.

The expanded group will not be brought together in one place, with individual sessions at county venues the only form of training approved and they do not represent an official England squad. Format-specific squads will be named at a later date.

The ECB performance director, Mo Bobat, who joined the selectors and the coach, Chris Silverwood, in putting together the list, said: “It’s really pleasing to be in a position to have players returning to training and a huge amount of work has been done by many to get us this far.

“The pool of players will give selectors strong options when it comes to selecting squads across formats further down the line, as we move closer to our aim of playing international cricket this summer.

“We will need to continue to work closely with our medical team and government to ensure our return to training and play activities are in line with best-practice guidelines.

“We’re also really grateful for the positive and collaborative response from our county colleagues who are doing a great job at facilitating coaching and support for the players. The fact we can call on our network to support the national effort shows the strength of our system.”

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