England’s Moeen Ali to miss first ODI against Pakistan with rib injury

England welcome back a number of star names for the first one-day international against Pakistan but Moeen Ali has been ruled out with a rib injury.

Jason Roy is unlikely to feature at The Oval on Wednesday due to a back problem but Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are all in contention again, having been rested for the ODI against Ireland and the T20I win over Pakistan.

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Mark Wood is also back with the squad but has not bowled competitively since the final T20I on England’s tour of the Caribbean in March and will probably be left out on Wednesday to allow him to get more overs under his belt in the nets.

“If it was an important game and we really needed them to play, they would be playing, but there’s no real need,” said England coach Trevor Bayliss. “We’re playing a bit safe but it gives us the chance to play some of the bench strength.”

Joe Denly and James Vince are likely to be given another chance to press their claims for a place at the World Cup, although Bayliss admits leg-spinning all-rounder Denly – named in England’s preliminary 15 – is coming under pressure from Hampshire’s Liam Dawson.

“Someone like Dawson will certainly be in discussions,” said Bayliss, who even admitted Ali’s injury had led to England considering drafting the slow left-armer into their squad for the Oval ODI.

“He’s done well this year and he’s done well for us in the past when he’s been given an opportunity at this level.

“It’s getting to the business end. It’s this 17 [the squad to play Pakistan] and Dawson, I don’t think it would be out of place in saying it’s probably down to that 18. I think the final 15 would come from that.

“We actually spoke about that if Mo didn’t play this first match but we’ve decided to give Denly a go this time. There will be a little bit of flexibility and I am sure there will be discussions ongoing throughout this series.”

The makeup of the England seam attack is another area of interest. Jofra Archer impressed in Sunday’s T20I and it would be a surprise if he did not get another chance to show what he can do in the 50-over format at The Oval.

“He’s fitted into the group extremely well,” Bayliss said of Archer. “He’s a fairly quiet sort of a guy. He looked very nervous in that first game in Ireland, as anyone making their debuts usually are.

“I thought he bowled some good spells, or one or two spells in Ireland without too much luck and I thought he bowled pretty well in the T20 match a couple of days ago.

“It’s all looking good. It’s going to be a very difficult decision for the selectors, whichever way we go.”

Pakistan have lost their last six ODIs but skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed says this series will give his squad “a big advantage” ahead of the World Cup as they acclimatise to conditions.

The tourists, smashed 5-0 by Australia in March, can draw on their Champions Trophy semi-final success over England in 2017 – a tournament they went on to win.

“All teams are favourites [for the World Cup] said Sarfaraz. “But you know if you see England’s record last year, they definitely are favourites for the World Cup.

“This is a big advantage. We play five-ODIs, top quality ODIs before the World Cup. So we have a good advantage before the World Cup.

“Definitely we all are very prepared. We work really hard. We played almost four games before the one-three practice matches and the T20 matches.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do well as a team in T20. But the way the team is responding in batting, bowling unfortunately, for me, the fielding in the ODI and the T20 matches. But we all are very prepared for the ODI series.”

England squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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