Dawid Malan dropped from England squad for Twenty20 series

Dawid Malan boasts four half‑centuries from his first five Twenty20 games for England and yet the return of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali for the summer fixtures against Australia and India means the left-handed batsman has been dropped.

The trio come back for the four T20 internationals that begin with a one-off against Australia at Edgbaston on 27 June, before India over three matches, having been rested for the winter tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. During this time Malan followed up a debut 78 against South Africa last summer with scores of 59, 50, 10 and 53.

But England’s national selector, Ed Smith, has instead decided that an average of 50 from five innings, at a strike-rate of 150, is not enough to usurp Root, Bairstow or Moeen in what is a show of loyalty towards the senior core and a sign of the white-ball batting depth.

The news is said to have left Malan shocked and frustrated. The 30-year-old must instead crack on for Middlesex in the T20 Blast and County Championship before the five-match Test series against India that begins at Edgbaston on 1 August.

It could prove a blessing if Malan finds form against the red ball in the three first-class matches he will captain before then, given he is far from secure at No 4 despite a maiden Test century in Perth last December. This scenario is not behind the omission, however.

England men’s squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire)

England women’s squad: Heather Knight (Berkshire), Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire), Georgia Elwiss (Sussex), Tash Farrant (Kent), Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire), Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Anya Shrubsole (Somerset), Nat Sciver (Surrey), Sarah Taylor (Sussex), Danni Wyatt (Sussex). To join the squad for the IT20 double-header on June 24: Katie George (Hampshire), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)

There is a call-up for Surrey’s Sam Curran – giving rise to the prospect of he and his brother Tom becoming England’s first brothers to take the field for England since Adam and Ben Hollioake in 1999 – and the decision to rest Mark Wood. Liam Dawson and Sam Billings are dropped.

Ben Stokes is not officially among the 14 named but could be added at a later date, with the all-rounder due to train with the squad over the course of the series as he overcomes the torn left hamstring he suffered during the Pakistan Test series.

England’s women have named a 14-strong squad for their Twenty20 tri-series against South Africa and New Zealand. The left-arm seamer Tash Farrant replaces Lauren Winfield for Wednesday’s opener against South Africa at Taunton, before she and Katie George come in for the double-header against both opponents on the same ground on Saturday.