England name Joe Root in Twenty20 squad to take on Australia and New Zealand despite golden opportunity for captain to rest

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England named Joe Root in their Twenty20 squad to face Australia and New Zealand on Sunday night even though the tri-series next month represented a golden opportunity for the Test captain to rest and recharge his batteries.

Not even a ‘very sore’ finger injured when hit by Mitchell Starc on the fourth day of the last Test could stop Root joining a strong-looking England squad for short-form matches that follow the one-day series after the final Test.

Sportsmail revealed last May that England’s management believed Root should start to miss Twenty20 series so he could be saved from the full excesses of a gruelling schedule across all three formats.

Joe Root has been named in England's squad to face Australia and New Zealand in Twenty20

But the England captain is believed to be desperate to play in the next World Twenty20 in Australia in 2020 while also wanting to cash in on this year’s Indian Premier League after England’s tour of New Zealand finishes in early April.

It is a concern Root wants to play in all formats because something has to give if he is to lead England’s Test team forward after a nightmare tour of Australia and he will have to miss more games for his country if he cashes in on the IPL.

Yet clearly England feel it is hard to stop their best players making the millions that are on offer to their contemporaries from other countries who have nothing like the international commitments of England.

Root is understood to be desperate to play in the next World Twenty20

Only Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali of England’s leading three-format players are rested while England have again named Ben Stokes in their squad even though he will probably have to miss out.

England feel it would be predujicial to the Crown Prosecution Service’s ongoing investigation over whether to charge Stokes for assault for his part in the incident outside a Bristol bar that cast such a cloud over this Ashes tour if they left him out now. A decision on Stokes future will be made by the ECB as soon as the CPS deliver their verdict.

Durham’s Mark Wood, Kent batsman Sam Billings and Hampshire’s James Vince return to the squad having missed out on the last international Twenty20 against West Indies last September. 

Jonny Bairstow will be rested for the shorter format matches along with Moeen Ali