A swathe of cricket fans have taken to social media to express their shock and disappointment after David Willey was omitted from the England white-ball squads for the upcoming series’ against Australia.
Eoin Morgan’s side are set to take on the Aussies in three T20Is and as many ODIs later this month and strong squads have been named for both formats.
The likes of Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood return to the white-ball arena following their involvement in the Tests against West Indies and Pakistan, but there’s no place for Willey in either group.
The left-arm seamer was the unlucky man to miss out when Archer was drafted into the England squad prior to the 2019 World Cup, but after a period away from the international scene, he returned to great effect in the three-match ODI showdown with Ireland earlier this summer.
Willey returned figures of 5/30, 2/48 and 1/70 in the three games, scoring 47* and 51 in his two efforts with the bat.
The 30-year-old walked away with the Man of the Series award and must have felt he’d proven a point with the visit of Australia looming.
Yet, he finds himself left out again with similar-style cricketer Sam Curran included despite going wicketless in his last two ODI appearances in South Africa back in February.
“It is of course extremely disappointing from David’s point of view,” said England national selector Ed Smith, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. “He’s playing good cricket and still has ambitions to be in all the England white-ball sides. But that’s one of the unfortunate consequences of having a lot of strength in depth.”
“Sometimes players who’ve done very well even recently, still can’t find a place in the squad and that’s the situation with David.
Everything he achieved against Ireland has been noted, his performances over a number of years, of course, are well understood by the selectors. But in this instance, we are giving opportunities to other people.”
That explanation hasn’t washed with plenty of fans though, who are both shocked and disappointed that Willey doesn’t seem to be being afforded a fair crack despite his work ethic and achievements.
Here’s a selection of responses to the news from social media: