Four new names for England

19 October 2007

Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara are rewarded for their one-day performances for England

England’s selectors have named a Test squad containing four uncapped players for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Phil Mustard and Graeme Swann have all won places in the squad together with another member of England’s victorious one-day squad in Sri Lanka - Owais Shah.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: “We have chosen a balanced squad which includes a number of experienced Test players together with several young players who performed well in the recent one-day series in Sri Lanka.

“Stephen Harmison is scheduled to play two four day matches for Highveld Lions in mid-November and he will join the tour party in Sri Lanka subject to him proving he has regained form and fitness following his back injury in the summer.

“Andrew Strauss needs to recover his best form and he has not been included in the squad on this occasion. We fully anticipate that he will have a major role to play with England in the next 12 months and he will be considered for the tour of New Zealand in the New Year.

“Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara are both fine players of spin-bowling and their performances for the one-day side recently have demonstrated that they have the temperament required to succeed at the highest level.

“We have chosen Phil Mustard as our number two wicket-keeper for the tour. Having recently toured Sri Lanka with the one-day squad, Phil is familiar with the conditions and will be ideally placed to deputise for Matt Prior should the situation arise.

“Graeme Swann made an excellent all-round contribution to the one-dDay squad’s series win in Sri Lanka and he will come into consideration for a place in our starting line-up at those venues where we require two spinners.

“The England performance squad will be in India from mid-November for four weeks and will provide nominated stand-by players in key positions to cover for any injuries to the Test squad in Sri Lanka.”

England Test squad to tour Sri Lanka

Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, captain)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Ravi Bopara (Essex)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)
Philip Mustard (Durham)
Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
Matthew Prior (Sussex)
Owais Shah (Middlesex)
Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)