Sam Billings Named England Vice-Captain For NZ T20Is

England all-rounder Sam Billings has been named vice-captain for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand

England Cricket Board (ECB) announced all-rounder Sam Billings will act as skipper Eoin Morgan's deputy (vice-captain) against New Zealand for the upcoming five-match T20I series. After being named vice-captain for England's T20I series, Billings said it is a 'huge honour'. The first match of the series will be played in Christchurch on November 1. The two teams will then play two Tests after the conclusion of the T20I series. Recently, Billings became the first batsman to score two hundreds in the same Specsavers County Championship match at Emerald Headingley. Billings marks his return to his national squad following a injury that kept him out of the World Cup 2019. "It's great to get some recognition and it's a huge honour," Billings was quoted as saying by the ICC. "It's a great opportunity to be recognised as a developing leader. And there's an element of personal development about it, too. "I captained the England Lions last winter and my county for the last two years. Eoin gave me a call a couple of weeks ago and said he'd love me to do it. I suppose he must see something in me. I'm looking forward to learning form him and implanting what I've done at Kent," he added. Meanwhile, regular New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the T20I series following a hip injury. In his absence, Tim Southee will lead the side. England T20I squad: 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 New Zealand T20I squad: Tim Southee (c), Trent Boult (for the final two matches), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (for the first three matches), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner.