England's limited-overs skipper Josh Buttler has hinted at the possible return of Harry Brook to the squad for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 after his latest heroics that included a 41-ball century in The Hundred.
England announced their provisional 15-man squad last week which was full of surprises.
First, their Test captain Ben Stokes, who took retirement from ODI in July 2022, returned to the squad and then Brook was left out which was a surprise because he is considered a reliable and important middle-order batter.
However, the youngster is a part of England's squad for a four-match T20I series against New Zealand and Buttler has not closed the doors for the youngster and says that he can still force his way into the squad.
"There's still a long time before everyone is meant to get on the plane, so we'll wait and see what happens," Buttler said.
"We all know Harry's a fantastic player and we saw what he can do the other night," Buttler added. "It's not like it's a surprise: we know what a brilliant player he is, he's just the unfortunate one at the moment to not be in that squad at the moment."
Buttler also opened up on Stokes' return for the World Cup saying that he is returning just as a batter.
"Of course, Ben Stokes coming back and being available just as a batter sort of changes the dynamic a little bit. Ben's a fantastic player to be able to welcome back, so it's a really tough selection."
England will begin their Cricket World Cup campaign by taking on New Zealand — the same opponent they beat to win the 2019 World Cup — on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In the warm-up matches, they will play against India on September 30 and then against Bangladesh on October 2.
England's provisional squad for the World Cup: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
- Harry Brook