Billings keeps place in England squad for Windies tour

LONDON: Sam Billings has retained his place in England's 14-man squad for the one-day international tour of West Indies having replaced injured opener Alex Hales during the recent series in India.

Hales fractured his hand in the second of three one-day international in India, giving Billings the chance to take his place in the third match which England won to lose the series 2-1.

"We felt it was important to keep faith with the squad that competed during the recent tour of India," National Selector James Whitaker said in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement on Friday.

"The current group of players are making excellent progress under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan and head coach Trevor Bayliss and the tour of the Caribbean will enable the team to test themselves in different conditions against a competitive side in the West Indies."

The first of three one-dayers against West Indies takes place in Antigua on March 3.

Squad: Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Eoin Morgan (captain), Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes.

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