Azhar Mahmood joins England staff for Pakistan T20s

LONDON: Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood and bowling coach will be a member of England's backroom staff when they face his native country during an upcoming three-match Twenty20 series, it was announced on Tuesday.

Mahmood, 45, has plenty of English county experience from his time with Surrey and Kent.

Until last year he was a member of Pakistan's coaching staff under Mickey Arthur but left as part of a post World Cup clear-out when the contracts of the South African and his assistants were not renewed by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

But Mahmood will now support England bowling coach Jon Lewis during a series at Emirates Old Trafford starting on August 28.

Meanwhile England have recalled Dawid Malan after the Yorkshire batsman missed the recent one-day series win over Ireland.

In a coronavirus-affected season, England's white-ball squad remains separate from the Test squad, who begin the final match of their series against Pakistan at Southampton on Friday.

Hampshire batsman James Vince has effectively been replaced by the fit-again Malan following a run of low scores against Ireland.

Malan scored an unbeaten century in a T20 international against New Zealand in November and the former Middlesex batsman hit a career-best double hundred for new county Yorkshire in this week's first-class Bob Willis Trophy match against Derbyshire.

As happened during the Ireland series, head coach Chris Silverwood will hand over to one of his assistants, with former England batsman Graham Thorpe in charge this time.

England national selector Ed Smith said: "In this crowded international summer, players who are currently in the Test match bio-secure bubble for the Pakistan Test series are not included in this squad.

"We want to give multi-format players some opportunity to rest and refresh, while still selecting strong squads for every series," the former England batsman added.

"We will announce the squad for the Australia T20 series at a later date."

England squad for Pakistan T20s:

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire)

Reserves: Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey)