London [UK]: The England Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed former Kiwi bowler and Warwickshire skipper Jeetan Patel as the spin bowling consultant for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Patel has been given dispensation to miss the first three matches of the Plunkett Shield season back home. He will be joining the England squad when the team arrives in Christchurch next week.
The 39-year-old Patel has played 24 Tests for New Zealand and he finished this year's county season with 64 wickets at an average of 26.75. England is slated to play five T20Is and two Tests against New Zealand. The first T20I match between both sides will be played on November 1.
England T20I squad for the series is as follows: Eoin Morgan (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince.
The team's Test squad: Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.
The Test series would not be a part of the World Test Championship and the first match will be played from November 21-25.
