England announce squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Will Jacks returns, Josh Tongue receives maiden call-up

England Cricket Board (ECB) have announced a 15-member provisional squad for T20 World Cup 2026. Josh Tongue has received his maiden T20I call-up after his performances in the ongoing Ashes 2025-26. He is set to make his T20I debut in the preparatory series against Sri Lanka.

Jofra Archer has been named in the squad despite a left side strain ruling him out of the last two Tests of the Ashes. In his place, Brydon Carse will tour Sri Lanka.

“Sussex fast bowler Jofra Archer is included in the provisional T20 World Cup squad but will miss the tour of Sri Lanka as he continues his rehabilitation with the England medical team following the left side strain sustained during the third Ashes Test in Adelaide earlier this month,” ECB said in a statement.

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Also, all-rounder Will Jacks has returned to the ODI and T20I squads after missing the New Zealand tour.

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Players missing from the squad that toured England are Zak Crawley, Jordan Cox, Sonny Baker and Brydon Carse. However, Carse may make it to the squad if Archer doesn't recover ahead of the mega event.

England’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad -

Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Luke Wood.

Notable omissions

The big names missing from the T20 World Cup squad are Jamie Smith, Saqib Mahmood and Liam Livingstone. Smith hasn't been named in the squad for T20 World Cup or the tour of Sri Lanka. Also, Livingstone could not make a comeback despite his decent run in franchise T20 cricket. Recently, he was picked for a whopping Rs 13 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction. But the England team management seems to have moved on from him.

England have been placed in Group C alongside Nepal, two-time champions West Indies, Bangladesh and debutants Italy. England will begin their campaign against Nepal at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on February 8. They will take on West Indies at the same venue as well on February 11. Then, they will travel to Kolkata where they will play against Bangladesh and Italy on February 14 and 16 respectively.