England have recalled Chris Woakes, David Willey and Liam Dawson to their T20I squad to face Sri Lanka later this month. Woakes has not played T20 cricket for England since 2015 but comes in as one of three changes from the India tour in March, with Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Reece Topley ruled out through injury.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled for later this year, England's head coach Chris Silverwood said he wanted to look at "some of our experienced players who have not featured at this level for some time". England have six T20Is scheduled this summer, as well as series in Bangladesh and Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup, as they look to pin down their plans for the tournament.
Woakes was a linchpin in the ODI side that won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 as well as being a regular candidate for the Test team, but has not featured in England's T20I thinking for some time - despite his involvement at IPL, where he has played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils.
Willey, elevated last year to Yorkshire's T20 captaincy, last featured in the format at international level in 2019, shortly before losing out on a World Cup spot to Archer. He had claimed England's second-best T20I figures - 4 for 7 against West Indies in St Lucia - a few months beforehand, and played every game in their run to the 2016 World T20 final.
Dawson's most-recent England appearance came in 2018 but he would have been a candidate for the white-ball tours to South Africa and India over the winter had he not required surgery on an Achilles injury.
Stokes is set to continue his recovery from a fracture finger with Durham in the T20 Blast next week, and could return for the T20I series with Pakistan in July. Archer had surgery on his longstanding elbow problem last month and no timescale has been put on his rehabilitation, while Topley was ruled out of the entirety of the Blast after suffering a side strain.
The recalls for Woakes, Willey and Dawson means no room for the likes of Saqib Mahmood, Lewis Gregory and Matt Parkinson, who have been on the fringes of selection over the last two years.
"With the T20 World Cup only a few months away, this summer is about perfecting our team and continue to progress on the field," Silverwood said. "We want to approach every series with an influx of players aiming to win every match and giving us the best preparation as we get closer to the tournament.
"With several high-profile players missing through injury, it allows me to look at some of our experienced players who have not featured at this level for some time. The likes of Chris Woakes and David Willey are very experienced cricketers, and to have them both in the mix is exciting and shows the depth of squad we have available.
"I want our team to play an attacking form of the game. I hope we can continue to excite the England fans with our approach."
England's players will assemble in Cardiff next Saturday, ahead of the first of three T20Is starting on June 23.
England squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
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