Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 358 Wed. June 01, 2005  
   
Sports


England unchanged


England named a 12-man squad Tuesday for the second and final Test against Bangladesh starting at the Riverside on Friday after thrashing the Asian minnows by an innings and 261 runs at Lord's last week.

Only Ashley Giles, who has again been ruled out with a hip injury, is missing from the squad with Graham Thorpe now set to play his 100th Test.

Uncapped Gloucestershire seamer Jonathan Lewis retained his place in the party. He was the only player yet to feature in international cricket also included in the 14-man One-Day squad for the triangular series with Australia and Bangla-desh and England's first Twenty20 match against Australia at the Rosebowl on June 13.

The one-day squad will also take part in an additional three one-day internationals against Australia in July, although the selectors reserved the right to add extra names for that series -- such as injured Glamorgan seamer Alex Wharf (side strain).

Giles was included despite his doubtful fitness and England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "We've not included Ashley in the Test squad for Durham but we're hopeful that he will recover from injury and be available for the NatWest Series.

Meanwhile Lewis could make his international debut ahead of the Ashes Test series against Australia which starts in July.

Glamorgan seamer Simon Jones, the pick of England's attack during their Lord's victory, has also been included in the one-day squad after playing his first two matches in the limited overs format of the game against Zimbabwe last December.

On the eve of the Bangladesh series opener veteran middle order batsman Thorpe announced that he had signed a contract with New South Wales to play cricket in Australia from January which appeared to signal his intention to retire from Test cricket -- he has already bowed out of one-dayers -- after the Ashes series.

But Graveney said the 35-year-old Surrey left-hander would be treated just like everyone else.

"There has been a lot written about Graham's decision and the selectors were disappointed with the timing," he told Sky TV.

"I'm delighted he is in the squad and plays his 100th Test match but he will know he has to maintain his form throughout the summer as all the batsmen do."

Among those pushing for a Test place is Kevin Pietersen, who scored three hundreds for England during the one-day series in his native South Africa last year.

The all-rounder, who has again been picked for the limited overs squad, plays first-class cricket for Hampshire where his captain is Australia leg-spin great and potential Ashes opponent Shane Warne.

"We hear the claims for Kevin loud and clear. He will challenge," Graveney said. "He is a talent but we have tried to have consistency with our selection over the last few years."

England have not won an Ashes series since Mike Gatting's side triumphed in Australia in 1986-87 but Graveney, an uncapped former county off-spinner, was adamant the upcoming campaign, which starts at Lord's on July 21, represented their best chance in years.

"In past situations we made errors of our own making and we have been behind the eight ball early on in the series. The expectation of the nation is huge, which is great, but we know we have to play at our best.

"There is a confidence in the team and we have got every chance of beating Australia."

TEST SQUAD
Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (captain), Ian Bell, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, Gareth Batty, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, Simon Jones, Jonathan Lewis.

ONE-DAY SQUAD
Vaughan (captain), Kabir Ali, Paul Collingwood, Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Harmison, G Jones, S Jones, Lewis, Kevin Pietersen, Vikram Solanki, Strauss, Trescothick.