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32 minutes ago
Jamie Overton has been recalled to England’s team for the third and final one-day international against South Africa in Southampton on Sunday.
The 31-year-old all-rounder will make his first appearance of the series, replacing seamer Saqib Mahmood following defeats to the Proteas at Headingley and Lord’s.
Earlier this week Overton announced he will take an indefinite break from red-ball cricket to focus on the white-ball game, thereby ruling himself out of this winter’s Ashes series.
He has played six ODIs for England, most recently against West Indies at Edgbaston in May when he made just a single with the bat but then took 3-22 in a crushing 238-run win.
Overton’s return is the only change for England, which means there is continuing backing for all-rounders Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks – plus possibly Joe Root – to collectively split the workload of a fifth bowler rather than picking a specialist.
Bethell and Jacks bowled 10 overs between them at Lord’s at the cost of 112 runs, but white-ball skipper Harry Brook has previously spoken of the benefit of batting deep, and England have resisted the temptation to tweak the structure of the side.
Opener Ben Duckett has also been named in England’s XI for the match against the Proteas at Utilita Bowl, even though it is a dead rubber with the tourists 2-0 up.
Duckett looked sufficiently jaded in the first two ODIs to be pulled from next week’s T20 series against the same opponents.
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said Duckett will benefit from the opportunity to recharge the batteries after Sunday’s match.
“We need certain players to be firing and Ben is certainly one of those,” Trescothick told a news conference.
“At this point in time, this [break] is the best way to maximise performances going forward as we head into a big winter. This is a good opportunity for Ben to get a bit of rest.
“We need the boys firing going into November, December, January. That’s not to say things aren’t important coming up, but sometimes you just have to take your foot off the gas a bit and rejuvenate the mind. Then you can get back on the horse and crack on.”
England XI for third ODI: Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
‘Need to climb the rankings’
Trescothick accepts England’s struggles in ODIs means they cannot afford to take their place at the next 50-over World Cup for granted.
England are eighth in the International Cricket Council rankings and occupy the final automatic qualifying spot for the 2027 tournament, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
There is still plenty of time to improve their position and avoid the danger of having to play in a qualifying tournament, but former England opener Trescothick said the team cannot rest on their laurels.
“If you look solely in terms of making sure we qualify for the World Cup, that is the situation we find ourselves in at the moment,” Trescothick said.
“We’re in an interesting position where we need to climb those rankings. Longer term there’s also a bigger picture and we need to look at being at the top of those rankings and beyond.
“We want to go and compete in the biggest competitions like we did in 2019. It’s been a challenging period and a sustained amount of time where you’re trying to adapt and get back to the formula we want.
“The journey hasn’t been easy, of course not, but I definitely feel we’re improving and moving in the right direction even though the last two results have been disappointing.”
