Tom Banton replaced England’s batting all-rounder Jacob Bethell in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Wednesday.
Bethell was part of the three-match ODI series against India. He scored a half-century in the series in which England were beaten comprehensively by the home team.
England’s explosive batter Tom Banton replaced the injured Bethell for the ODI series against India and the highly-anticipated Champions Trophy, scheduled to run from February 19 to March 9.
“England have named Tom Banton as the replacement in the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 squad for Jacob Bethell, who was ruled out owing to a left hamstring injury,” ICC said in a statement.
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Tom Banton, who last played for England in an ODI in August 2020, has been in outstanding form in T20 franchise cricket.
He was the second-highest run-scorer in the UAE ILT20 competition, where he amassed 493 runs from 11 innings at an average of 54.77, including two centuries.
For the unversed, England will kick off their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia in Lahore on February 22 before playing Afghanistan at the same venue four days later.
They will then face South Africa in Karachi on March 1.
The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy will kick off on 19 February, with host and defending champions Pakistan taking on New Zealand in the curtain-raiser in Karachi’s National Bank Stadium.
The eight-team tournament will consist of 15 matches over 19 days and will take place in Pakistan and Dubai.
In Pakistan, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi will be the three venues to host Champions Trophy 2025 matches. Each Pakistan venue will feature three group games apiece, with Lahore hosting the second semi-final.
Lahore will also host the final on 9 March unless India qualifies, in which case it will be played in Dubai.
Both the semi-finals and the final will have reserve days. The three group matches involving India and the first semi-final will be played in Dubai.
England’s updated Champions Trophy squad:
Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
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