Tash Farrant to tour New Zealand, Anya Shrubsole out injured

Anya Shrubsole will miss England's upcoming tour of New Zealand because of a knee injury, with Tash Farrant earning a recall to the national women's squad.

The vastly experienced Shrubsole was ruled out of a 16-strong England squad named on Thursday to play three ODIs and three T20Is in February and March, as was fellow seamer Katie George, who has suffered another stress fracture in her back. George, the 21-year-old left-armer, has been troubled by back injuries during her career and has played just two ODIs and three T20Is since making her international debut in 2018.

Sophia Dunkley retains her place in the squad, having scored 0 and 3* upon breaking back into the England T20 team after 18 months during the five-match T20 series against West Indies in September.

While there was room for another left-arm seamer, Farrant, who impressed during last year's inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Georgia Adams missed out on selection despite being the domestic 50-over competition's leading runscorer with 500 runs at an average of 83.33 and including a highest score of 154 not out. Farrant made her solitary ODI appearance back in 2013 and played the last of her 14 T20Is against New Zealand in England in 2018.

Talented 18-year-old pace bowler Issy Wong will travel with the group to New Zealand as part of her on-going development, having spent time around the squad during the series against West Indies. Georgia Elwiss returns after missing that series with a back injury.

The England touring party will fly out on January 24 and spend 14 days in quarantine as required by the New Zealand Government. During that time, they will follow Covid-19 testing protocols which will allow them to train ahead of the first one-day match on February 23 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch with two fixtures at the Universtiy of Otago to follow. The T20Is will begin on March 3 at Wellington's Sky Stadium before moving to Eden Park and then Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

Jonathan Finch, director of England Women's Cricket, said that despite the challenges posed by a shortened 2020 season and ongoing limitations due to the global coronavirus pandemic, players were already working towards major tournaments in 2022-23.

"We're hugely excited about getting over to New Zealand and maintaining our commitment to play international cricket despite these challenging times" Finch said. "We have a really important 24 months in front of us with two ICC global events, the Women's Ashes and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Our ambition is to be successful across all these events and this tour is the first step towards achieving that."

The T20 series against West Indies was the only international women's cricket played in England last year after travel restrictions prevented India and 2023 T20 World Cup hosts South Africa from touring as was planned before the pandemic hit. New Zealand will host the ICC Women's World Cup, where England will be defending champions, in early 2022 after the event was postponed for a year.

England squad: Heather Knight (capt.), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.

ODI series:
Tuesday February 23: 1st ODI, Hagley Oval, 1am GMT
Friday February 26: 2nd ODI, University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT
Sunday February 28: 3rd ODI, New University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT

T20I series:
Wednesday March 3: 1st T20I, Sky Stadium, 2am GMT
Friday March 5: 2nd T20I, Eden Park, 2am GMT
Sunday March 7: 3rd T20I, Bay Oval, 11pm GMT