England have included Monty Panesar and Chris Tremlett in their 16-man squad for the Ashes tour of Australia this winter.
Panesar has not featured for his country since his memorable match-saving partnership with James Anderson in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff last summer. The 28 year old struggled mightily in his final season with Northamptonshire, but a switch to the south coast appears to have rejuvenated him as he took 52 wickets as Sussex earned promotion to the top tier of the County Championship.
Tremlett played the last of his three Tests against India in August of 2007, but the 6’7” paceman earned a recall to the England set-up after collecting 48 wickets at an average of just over 20 in 12 first-class matches for Surrey this past season.
The selectors have included all the players that were involved in the controversial Test match against Pakistan at Lord’s, with Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies, Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell and Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan completing the touring party.
Yorkshire duo miss out
However, there was no place for up-and-coming seamer Ajmal Shahzad, but the Yorkshire bowler was included in the performance squad that will be in Australia at the same time.
Shahzad’s county teammate, Adil Rashid, was overlooked entirely despite an impressive domestic campaign that saw him earn second place in the Professional Cricketers’ Association rankings.
Hampshire T20 star named in performance squad
Kent spinner James Tredwell, who took six wickets on his Test debut against Bangladesh in March, has to settle for a place in the back-up group where he will be joined by Hampshire youngster Danny Briggs.
As for Ravi Bopara, who had a truly forgettable Ashes series last summer, the Essex batsman has been omitted completely.
The ECB also announced that Jonathan Trott and Steven Finn have been handed central contracts for the first time, but one-day superstar Eoin Morgan will remain on an incremental deal.
The England squad will depart for Australia in early November ahead of three preparation matches before the Ashes series begins on the 25th at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Complete Ashes squad: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan, Monty Panesar, Steven Davies (wicketkeeper), Ian Bell, Chris Tremlett.
Notable tour dates:
November 5-7: Warm-up v Western Australia
November 11-13: Warm-up v South Australia
November 17-20: Warm-up v Australia A
November 25-29: 1st Ashes Test, Brisbane
December 3-7: 2nd Ashes Test, Adelaide
December 10-12: Practice match v Victoria
December 16-20: 3rd Ashes Test, Perth
December 26-30: 4th Ashes Test, Melbourne
January 3-7: 5th Ashes Test, Sydney
January 10: Practice match v Prime Minister’s XI
January 12: 1st T20 international, Adelaide
January 14: 2nd T20 international, Melbourne
January 16: 1st ODI, Melbourne
January 21: 2nd ODI, Hobart
January 23: 3rd ODI, Sydney
January 26: 4th ODI, Adelaide
January 30: 5th ODI, Brisbane
February 2: 6th ODI, Sydney
February 6: 7th ODI, Perth
Sources:
BBC Sport (accessed 23 September 2010)
Sporting Life (accessed 23 September 2010)
Martyn Wood - Martyn has a degree in sport journalism from the University of Brighton and Master's degree in multimedia sports journalism from the ...
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