England will play five T20Is in Australia, starting at the MCG on Saturday 21 November, and the 16 players named for them are not simply the side that swept Sri Lanka 3–0 in September. Harry Brook captains. Phil Salt is back after a quad injury, Jos Buttler is out while he recovers from hamstring surgery, and two players have been called up for the first time: Thomas Rew, an 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, and Eddie Jack, a 21-year-old seamer. The four fast bowlers in the ODI squad are not in the T20I group. Here is what has been confirmed, what it might mean, and what to check before fantasy lock.
What the announcement confirms
The T20I squad is Brook (captain), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Aneurin Donald, Eddie Jack, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Thomas Rew, Phil Salt and Luke Wood. Comparing it with the 16-player ODI squad gives a clear split:
| Group | Players | Count |
|---|---|---|
| In both squads | Brook, Banton, Bethell, Cox, Crocombe, Curran, Dawson, Jacks, Overton, Rashid | 10 |
| T20I squad only | Coles, Donald, Jack, Rew, Salt, Wood | 6 |
| ODI squad only | Archer, Atkinson, Baker, Duckett, Root, Tongue | 6 |
The sums check out: 10 + 6 = 16 for the T20Is and 10 + 6 = 16 for the ODIs. Archer, Atkinson, Tongue and Baker are being rested from the T20Is and will leave the squad after the three ODIs. The reason given is workload management before England’s Test tour of South Africa, which starts with a warm-up in Durban on 9–11 December and a first Test in Johannesburg on 17 December. Buttler is out after hamstring surgery and Saqib Mahmood misses both squads with a knee injury. Bethell is back from a knee injury suffered in July, and Salt returns from the quad problem that kept him out of the Sri Lanka T20Is. One report also says Curran is back from a groin injury and that Luke Wood is recalled despite losing his central contract; we have seen those two details in one place only.
Rew is a Somerset wicketkeeper-batter who captained England’s Under-19 side to the World Cup final in February and, according to Wisden, scored a century in the semi-final against Australia. Jack is a Hampshire seamer who has played seven T20 Blast games, according to one report. Both have ECB development contracts. The same report says Coles and Crocombe could make their T20I debuts.
The form coming in
The most recent T20I series we have covered is England’s 3–0 win over Sri Lanka at home in September. The first match was in Southampton, where England made 254/4 and Sri Lanka were all out for 135 in 19 overs, a 119-run win. Brook hit 114 not out off 49 balls and Buttler made 80 off 49, while Baker took 3 for 12 and Overton 2 for 20. In Cardiff, England chased 146 against Sri Lanka’s 145/9, finishing on 146/4 in 12.1 overs; Banton made 52 not out off 24 balls, Dawson took 3 for 32 and Overton 2 for 23. The third match, at Old Trafford, completed the sweep.
Aneurin Donald, a Derbyshire opener, made his England debut in that series. Wisden reported that he had scored 2,454 runs at a strike rate of 172.21 in 112 T20s before the series, but a home sample against Sri Lanka tells us little about Australian grounds, and Buttler and Baker, two of its standouts, are not here.
DREM analysis: three questions
This section is editorial opinion and not confirmed fact.
Who opens and who keeps? With Buttler out, Salt, Banton, Donald, Cox and Brook all have a claim to the top of the order, and the squad has several players who could bat in the first six. Rew is the only one our sources describe as a wicketkeeper-batter, so we cannot say who takes the gloves. The team sheet will be the only real answer, and batting positions matter more than the squad list.
Who bowls without the four? The names we can confirm are Rashid and Dawson for spin, plus Overton, Curran, Wood and Jack among the seamers and all-rounders. We have not confirmed the bowling roles of everyone else, so we do not count them as options. Baker’s 3 for 12 in Southampton came from a bowler who is not in this group, so the attack that did the job at home has changed, and Overton’s two wickets in each of the first two Sri Lanka games are the most consistent line we can point to.
How much will the newcomers play? A 16-man squad for five matches leaves room to rotate. Whether Rew, Jack, Coles or Crocombe actually appear is something only the first team sheets can tell us, and a squad place is not a promise of a game.
Against Australia
England meet an Australian side that also looks different from its ODI group; read our analysis of Australia’s T20I squad for the 14 names, the wicketkeeper question and the rested bowlers. For the series calendar, England also play a warm-up against a Western Australia XI in Perth on 7 November; we have not seen a result.
Venues and timing
Heart’s fixture list gives 8:15am GMT starts for the T20Is and 3:30am GMT for the ODIs; confirm local times in the official match centre. We have not seen pitch or weather reports for any venue yet, and squads can change before 21 November.
Fantasy checks before lock
These are checks, not picks, and nothing here promises points.
- Wait for the XI. Six of the 16 are T20I-only names, so the XI may look quite different from the ODI side.
- Check the gloves. If your contest has a wicketkeeper slot, confirm which player is keeping.
- Check roles. Batting position and bowling overs matter more than reputation, so confirm both in the XI.
- Watch fitness and rotation. Injury news and the ODI results can change the T20I group, and the rested quicks will not be in it.
- Read each venue. The five grounds differ; our pitch guide, form guide and captain guide explain how to read conditions, form and roles. Contest rules vary by platform.
England’s T20I group looks designed around the winter calendar: the four fast bowlers go to rest before South Africa, an opener returns, and two young names get a first look. That leaves more questions than answers about the first XI, so the useful questions for anyone building a team are simple: who opens, who keeps, and who takes the overs Archer, Atkinson, Tongue and Baker would otherwise bowl.
Quick questions
When do the T20Is start?
Saturday 21 November 2026 at the MCG in Melbourne, followed by matches on 24 and 27 November, then 29 November and 2 December.
Who captains England?
Harry Brook leads both the ODI and T20I squads.
Who is new in the T20I squad?
Thomas Rew, an 18-year-old Somerset wicketkeeper-batter, and Eddie Jack, a 21-year-old Hampshire seamer, are called up for the first time. Luke Wood is recalled.
Who is missing?
Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Sonny Baker are in the ODI squad only and are being rested from the T20Is. Jos Buttler is recovering from hamstring surgery and Saqib Mahmood has a knee injury.
Is this fantasy advice?
No. It lists things to check. Squads and conditions can change, and contest rules vary by platform.
For more context, see our player analysis of Tim Seifert and the match centre.
Sources
Squads, injuries and rest plan: ICC, cricket.com.au, Heart and CricTracker. Thomas Rew: Wisden. Aneurin Donald: Wisden. Sri Lanka series: NewsBytes, 1st T20I, NewsBytes, 2nd T20I, Daily Mirror and Heart, series sweep. Fixtures: Wikipedia.