Gloucestershire bowler David Payne has been called up to the England ODI squad for the first time after seven members of the England Men's ODI party tested positive for Covid-19.

Three members of the initial playing group and four members of the management staff have tested positive, and consequently the entire squad initially selected was required to isolate.

Payne is one of nine uncapped players to make the new 18-strong squad for the three-match series against Pakistan, and one of six to have never represented England in any format.

Payne was pulled out of Gloucestershire's County Championship encounter with Middlesex at Cheltenham, being replaced in the side by Dom Goodman.

If Payne is selected he will be the second Gloucestershire player to represent England this summer after James Bracey played in two test matches against New Zealand last month.

Ashley Giles, ECB managing director of men’s cricket, said: “It’s a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most it’s not necessarily something they would have been expecting 24 hours ago.

“It’s an exciting group of players, with some young talent and some players who have impressed at domestic level over a long period of time.

“We’re in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire squad and management team, and I’m very proud of how everyone has come together in order to get it done – both those within the ECB and from the county game.”

ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison had earlier accepted the development was a natural consequence of the decision to move away from the strictly enforced bubbles that were in evidence last summer.

While successful – there were no positive cases at all during a full programme of men’s fixtures – they were also felt to place too great a burden on the mental health of those involved for long periods.

“We have been mindful that the emergence of the Delta variant, along with our move away from the stringent enforcement of bio-secure environments, could increase the chances of an outbreak,” said Harrison.

“We made a strategic choice to try to adapt protocols, in order to support the overall well-being of our players and management staff who have spent much of the last 14 months living in very restricted conditions.

“Overnight we have worked swiftly to identify a new squad, and we are grateful to Ben Stokes who will return to England duties to captain.

“We also recognise the impact this news will have on our first-class counties and their men’s playing squads and thank them, along with our partners Sky and Royal London, for their ongoing support in dealing with this pandemic.”

The new players and staff who are drafted in will need to submit negative PCR tests and complete “bridging protocols” before joining the squad in Cardiff.

That match will take place in front of a 50 per cent capacity crowd, with the second game at Lord’s on Saturday representing cricket’s first 100 per cent crowd since the pandemic began. The series then concludes at Edgbaston and, as it stands, no changes are anticipated to the venues or admittance numbers.

Full squad

Ben Stokes (Durham, captain)

Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire)

Danny Briggs (Warwickshire)

Brydon Carse (Durham)

Zak Crawley (Kent)

Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)

Lewis Gregory (Somerset)

Tom Helm (Middlesex)

Will Jacks (Surrey)

Dan Lawrence (Essex)

Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)

Dawid Malan (Yorkshire)

Craig Overton (Somerset)

Matt Parkinson (Lancashire)

David Payne (Gloucestershire)

Phil Salt (Sussex)

John Simpson (Middlesex)

James Vince (Hampshire)