NEWS
Follow UsChris Jordan replaces Josh Tongue for England's upcoming T20 International (T20I) series against New Zealand at home, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have confirmed on social media. The series is set to get underway on August 30 at Chester-le-Street. Tongue is believed to have sustained an injury, according to the ECB, but the nature of it remains unclear.
Get well soon, @JoshTongue 🤞
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 26, 2023
Welcome, @CJordan 👋
Tongue has been ruled out of the Vitality IT20 Series against due to injury.
Jordan, has been drafted into the squad for the four-match series. pic.twitter.com/w4b98up9gI
Tongue, who has played five Tests, is yet to make his T20I debut for England. He has picked up 15 wickets in as many matches in T20s. He is currently part of the Manchester Originals squad in The Hundred, where he has picked up six wickets in three matches so far. The Originals take on Southern Brave in the Eliminator on Saturday (August 26), and Tongue will not feature in the game.
Jordan, England's leading wicket-taker in T20Is, is just four scalps away from 100 wickets in the format. He last played for England against Bangladesh in Mirpur earlier this year. Jordan has been excellent for the Brave this season in The Hundred, having picked up eight wickets at an economy rate of under 7. He also scored an unbeaten 32-ball 70 - only his second fifty in T20 cricket - against Welsh Fire earlier in the season to help his side to a two-run victory.Â
New Zealand come to England at the back of a 2-1 series victory over UAE in Dubai. Jos Buttler-led England white-ball side will be in action for the first time since the T20Is against Bangladesh in March earlier this year.
This is the first bilateral T20I series between the two sides since 2019. They had last met in a five-match T20I series in New Zealand in 2019, which England won 3-2. The two sides last played a T20I in England in 2015 at Old Trafford, which the hosts won by 56 runs.
