England's Cumbrian all-rounder Ben Stokes will be rested for their Twenty20 series in the West Indies.

Stokes, from Cockermouth, has been stood down from next month’s trio of T20s at the request of head coach Trevor Bayliss alongside wicket-keeper Jos Buttler.

Both players are expected to play key roles in the World Cup and Ashes double-header this summer, as well as heading to the Indian Premier League where they will be teaming up at Rajasthan Royals.

They will depart the Caribbean after the fifth One-Day International along with opener Jason Roy, who has been given leave to return for the birth of his first child.

Their absence makes room for batsmen Dawid Malan and Sam Billings, as well as Chris Jordan.

But national selector Ed Smith insisted he was not allowing domestic tournaments to take precedence over England duty in allowing Stokes and Buttler time away before the IPL.

He said: “That’s not the case. I have not favoured franchise cricket over internationals.

"The strong recommendation of the head coach was that he would like to rest these two players and I said ‘that’s fine by me’.

"There’s an incredible period of cricket coming up - I would view it as an unusual set of circumstances and as us responding to them in the best possible interests of English cricket.”