Four fringe England stars hoping to impress new coach Mott in Netherlands series

England are set to face the Netherlands in an ODI series and several fringe players will be hoping to impress new white ball coach Matthew Mott ahead of their Cricket World Cup defence next year

Matthew Mott is set to take charge of England ‘s white ball side for the first time when they face the Netherlands in a three-match ODI Series.

The tour was originally set to take place in May 2021, but was postponed due to Covid-19 and rescheduled for this month. Due to this, the games are taking place at the same time as the ongoing Test series against New Zealand, with the final ODI being played the day before the third Test starts.

As a result, key members of England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup winning side like Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow are all absent from the squad. Injury problems also mean the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are not involved.

England’s 14-man squad includes two potential debutants and three players with only a handful of ODI caps each and, with a new coach in place and the World Cup set to take place next year, Mirror Sport has taken a look at four fringe players who will be keen to impress.

Brydon Carse

The Durham quick has just three England caps to his name, having been part of the makeshift ODI side which defeated Pakistan in 2021 after the original squad suffered a Covid outbreak. Carse impressed in that series, taking 5-61 in the final ODI at Edgbaston.

The 26-year-old is the son of former Zimbabwean cricketer James Carse, who played county cricket for Northamptonshire, and Durham teammate Stokes is a big fan of the fast bowler. “He’s a seriously-impressive cricketer,” Stokes said of Carse before his England debut.

“He’s known for his bowling but he is a genuinely good batsman as well. He’s got pace, that X factor every team wishes they have and I see him in a similar role to the one Liam Plunkett had in the England team for a number of years.”

England have not yet settled a replacement for Plunkett, who last played for England in the 2019 World Cup final, and Carse will be hoping to live up to Stokes’ proclamation that he could be the long-term replacement.

David Payne

Payne is one of the uncapped players in the squad and one of five left-arm seamers. The 31-year-old has been a consistent performer for Gloucestershire in white-ball cricket in recent years and has been part of several England squads before without getting a game.

In his List A career, Payne has picked up 110 wickets at 24.96 and is an excellent performer in both the powerplay and death overs. Most notably, he bowled the last over of the 2015 One-Day Cup final, picking up two wickets as Gloucestershire defeated Surrey.

Having first been called up by England in 2021, Payne will be keen to finally get an opportunity to impress. However, he faces some stiff competition with more experienced international seamers like Sam Curran, Reece Topley and David Willey in the squad.

Phil Salt

With Bairstow absent due to his involvement in the Test side, Salt looks set to open alongside Jason Roy after leapfrogging the likes of James Vince and Tom Banton in the pecking order. An explosive opener who also made his debut in the 2021 Pakistan series, the 25-year-old struck an impressive half-century in his second appearance at Lord’s.

He made his T20I debut earlier this year against the West Indies and blasted 57 off just 24 balls batting down the order as England came up short. Long-term, it will be difficult to displace either Roy or Bairstow, who have formed one of the most successful ODI opening partnerships ever.

However, an impressive series against the Netherlands could cement him as the first-choice backup and long-term successor.

Luke Wood

The second potential debutant in the squad, Wood has been on England’s radar for a while now. The 25-year-old has only played four List A matches since making his debut in 2016, the last of which came over three years ago.

However, when the squad was announced he was specifically name checked by Mott, who said: “Luke Wood deserves his call-up.

“He has been consistent for Lancashire over the past 12 months and we have been monitoring his progression. If given a chance to play, I’m sure he will make most of his opportunity.”

The left-armer is capable of reaching speeds of over 90mph, has impressed with both the new ball and at the death in T20 cricket and is also a useful batter with two first-class hundreds to his name.