Ashley Giles discloses why Sam Billings was picked ahead of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow for New Zealand Tests

Sam Billings: The uncapped English wicket-keeper batsman received a maiden Test call-up as a replacement for Ben Foakes yesterday.

Former England spinner and current director of cricket of men’s team Ashley Giles has opened up on why the English selectors thought of resting their IPL players for the imminent two-match Test series against New Zealand beginning from June 2.

As a result, England are likely to hand a debut in the first Test at the Lord’s and the number might increase in the second match. The series is also likely to see a couple of players in Craig Overton and Haseeb Hameed making their comebacks into the Test team after two and five years respectively.

ALSO READ: Ashley Giles denies altering schedule of England-India Tests to accommodate IPL 2021

“I think we felt the best option was to [allow the IPL players to] take as much time as they needed after what they’ve been through this winter. If there was a strong case from the players to get back on the horse a bit earlier and play some cricket then we were prepared to listen to that as well. They know their bodies and minds as well as anyone,” Giles told reporters.

Ashley Giles discloses why Sam Billings was picked ahead of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow

Despite their stance on the IPL players, England ended up handing a maiden Test call-up to wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings after Ben Foakes was ruled out of the series yesterday.

Billings was among the 14 English players who had taken part in Indian Premier League 2021 before it was postponed earlier this month. In what was his second stint at Delhi Capitals, Billings didn’t get to add to his 22 IPL matches this season.

🚨 ENGLAND SQUAD UPDATE 🚨

Following an injury to Ben Foakes, @SamBillings has been selected in the English Test squad that will take on New Zealand from June 2 🏏#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/ngjZLipmgC

— Delhi Capitals (Stay Home. Wear Double Masks😷) (@DelhiCapitals) May 26, 2021

The 29-year old player had led Kent in just one County Championship 2021 match before getting a national call-up. In 71 first-class matches, Billings has scored 3,189 runs at an average of 34.29 including six centuries and 14 half-centuries.

“That was the case with [Sam] Billings. He went back to Kent and played some cricket to put himself in the frame. Communication was made from [head coach] Chris Silverwood to those players [Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler] about what the plan was.

ALSO READ: Will English players take part in the second phase of IPL 2021?

“We felt there was no need to go back on that. They’ve been spending time with families and Jos is away for a few days at the moment. We didn’t want to drag those players out of that at the 11th hour. There was no plan to change that,” Giles added.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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