Master blaster Root's T20 exile continues as England prepare for World Cup

HARRY Brook admits that Joe Root was never in the frame to make England's T20 World Cup squad.

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The 35-year-old issued a reminder of his enduring quality with scores of 51, 75 and an unbeaten 111 in the ODI series victory in Sri Lanka.

Root is a master of building an innings on spinning wickets and his form raised the question of whether England might be missing a trick by not taking him to next month's T20 World Cup - co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Root himself acknowledged following the series-clinching win in Colombo on Tuesday that he is a "long way off" the T20 squad, having not played for England in that format since 2019.

Asked if Root was ever in contention for the World Cup squad, captain Brook said: "Probably not, no. He's obviously such a phenomenal player. In all conditions he's done it everywhere. Unfortunately he wasn't quite in the mix."