MOEEN Ali's return to competitive action with England has moved a step closer after he was named in a training group for the Ireland ODI series.

The 32 year-old was left out of the squad for England's first test against the West Indies last week having initially been picked in the wider training group for the series.

The squad, described as a "behind closed-doors training group" is 24-strong and will begin preparation for the Ireland series, which gets underway on July 30.

The squad, along with a separate white-ball management team, will live, prepare and train at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton to prepare for the series.

Two intra-group warm-up matches will take place on 21 July and 24 July. A final England squad for the Ireland series, plus a number of reserves, will be named at a later date.

Moeen will be looking to add to his 102 ODI appearances for his country spanning six and a half years.

His last ODI came against South Africa in Johannesburg in February.

National Selector Ed Smith, said: “Even with several multi-format players unavailable for the Ireland ODIs due to their Test commitments, there is real depth to England’s white ball playing talent.

“Again, everyone at England cricket would like to thank all the county coaches and support staff who have helped these players in the lead up to the behind-closed-doors training camp.

“We now look forward to hosting Ireland and continuing to develop our white ball strength in depth.”

Worcestershire’s Pat Brown (back), Sussex’s Chris Jordan (right arm) and Yorkshire’s Dawid Malan (right calf) were not considered for selection due to injury.

Behind-Closed-Doors ODI Training Group:

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire).

1st ODI v Ireland: Thursday 30 July at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm start D/N)

2nd ODI v Ireland: Saturday 1 August at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm D/N)

3rd ODI v Ireland: Tuesday 4 August at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm D/N)