Salt and Pepper could bat together for England after Buttler ruled out

Uncapped Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper has been called up to the England ODI squad to tour West Indies and, in the absence of injured captain Jos Buttler, could open with Phil Salt, the ECB said on Monday.

Pepper, 26, was Essex's leading scorer in this year's Vitality Blast and hit 32 sixes, the most of any batter.

Salt, who is also a wicketkeeper-batter, averages 32.5 from his 24 ODIs and almost 35 in T20s at a strike rate of 165.

Welcome Michael 👋

Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper has been added to the squad for our West Indies white-ball tour 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/nJ5WHuGipa

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 21, 2024

Buttler, who missed last month's series against Australia with a calf injury, will not play in the one-day international series starting later this month after a setback in his recovery but is expected to feature in the subsequent T20 series.

In Buttler's absence, allrounder Liam Livingstone will be England's stand-in captain in the three-match ODI series which begins on 31 October.

England travel to the Caribbean next week while Buttler will join the team in Barbados ahead of the five-match T20 series, scheduled from November 9.

England men's squad for the white-ball tour of West Indies:

Jos Buttler (captain) (T20 series only), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Michael Pepper, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner.