England have bolstered their squad with the addition of extra seamers Craig Overton and Sam Curran as they bid for an unprecedented 5-0 one-day international whitewash of Australia.
Eoin Morgan’s men wrapped up the series by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead at Trent Bridge, where they overwhelmed their Ashes rivals with a new world-record total of 481 for six.
The resulting victory by 242 runs, after Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali shared seven wickets, was both England’s most emphatic ever in ODIs and Australia’s heaviest defeat.
? BREAKING NEWS ?
Sam Curran and Craig Overton have been added to our ODI squad.
Full story: https://t.co/eneAfiGW42#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/QAfLmcR88X
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 20, 2018
England have, however, decided they need extra pace-bowling options to mitigate against too tough a workload for the current incumbents – with two more matches to come in four days, starting at Chester-le-Street on Thursday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed the contingency on Wednesday morning.
A short update read: “Surrey’s Sam Curran and Somerset’s Craig Overton have been called up from the Lions to join England’s squad for the final two Royal London ODIs against Australia.
“Both players will travel to Chester-le-Street today and will be available for selection on Thursday at Emirates Riverside and the final match of the series at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday, providing additional fast-bowling options.”
The double call-up is no surprise after Morgan warned about the potential danger of over-bowling a pace attack staffed by Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and David Willey.
He said after Tuesday night’s remarkable victory: “I think with only a day (before) the next game, it makes it more difficult for us to put out our strongest team.
“We’ve always looked at series like this, and games with one day in between, as quite rigorous for the bowlers.
“Their risk of injury goes through the roof. So we’ll have to see how they pull up, and what they can do.”
Chris Jordan, meanwhile, has been added to the England Lions squad for the triangular ODI series against India A and West Indies A. Overton will rejoin that squad next week.
