Alex Hales, Zarar Ansari get Test call

Hales made his name as a dynamic ball-striker in white-ball cricket but has been selected to tour the Emirates despite a lean Royal London series against Australia.

The selectors have not made many changes to the ODI squad which took part in the five-match series against Australia.

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart has revealed that Zafar Ansari “is not in the greatest shape” after suffering a hand injury against in a County Championship match against Lancashire. The ball came out of the sun, he saw it late and it hit him hard on the left thumb.

As for resting Stokes from the limited overs section of the tour, Whitaker added: “This decision reflects a desire to manage his workload across a busy winter period in all three formats of the game”.

Lancashire’s Simon Kerrigan has fallen from favour since his nightmare Test debut against Australia at the Oval in 2013 while his county colleague Stephen Parry, who returned to England’s Twenty20 squad on Tuesday.

Rashid, Ansari and Hales are the only uncapped players in the 16-man Test squad.

“Zafar Ansari’s potential excites us, and he will provide strong competition for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali“.

Hales is already a regular of the limited-overs side but has been rewarded for an upturn in his first-class output over the past two seasons.

England arrive in the UAE on September 30 before facing Pakistan in three Tests, four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s.

Twenty-three-year-old Ansari was a member of England’s team for their one-off one-day worldwide in Ireland at the start of the summer.

Nottinghamshire opener Hales has been picked ahead of Adam Lyth, the Yorkshire batsman who played all seven Tests this summer but struggled badly for form during the Ashes, while Surrey all-rounder Ansari offers a third spin-bowling option alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.

Taylor, 25, is recalled to the Test set-up after winning the last of his two caps against South Africa in 2012.

Lyth had hoped to keep his place in the touring party despite his disappointing Ashes’ series (averaging under 13), yet it seems that Hales is being given his opportunity to show his credentials at the top of the order instead.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has also announced former England limited-overs captain Paul Collingwood and ex-Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene will join the England management team in consultancy roles.

T20 worldwide squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Stephen Parry (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Essex), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northamptonshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).