England announce 2010/11 Ashes squad
After emerging in triumph from a Test and one-day series against Pakistan that they may wish to forget, England turned its attention on the Ashes tour to Australia this winter.
The England selectors named the 16-man squad that they hope will be able to retain the Ashes in Australia for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Andy Flower, the England team director, has been careful not to give too much away and even the players felt obliged to get into the act. As he was receiving the man-of-the-match award, for his century that helped England to clinch victory in the NatWest Series over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rose-c86842 Bowl last night, Eoin Morgan gave up the swashbuckling strokes to play a dead bat to suggestions that he was already booked for the flight Down Under.
“No, I don’t expect anything,” he said. “If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t I’ll make other plans.”
His name appeared, to no great surprise, on the list that featured no great surprises overall. The full squad is:
Andrew Strauss (captain, Middlesex)
Alastair Cook (vice-captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783)
James Anderson (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Tim Bresnan (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Paul Collingwood (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782)
Steven Davies (wicketkeeper, Surrey)
Steven Finn (Middlesex)
Eoin Morgan (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817)
Monty Panesar (Sussex)
Kevin Pietersen (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789)
Matt Prior (wicketkeeper, Sussex)
Graeme Swann (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nottinghamshire-c826)
Chris Tremlett (Surrey)
Jonathan Trott (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862)
The squad was drawn largely from the players who had played in the Test matches during 2010 with the last two places that were expected to be filled among the bowlers going to Chris Tremlett, the Surrey fast bowler, and Monty Panesar, the left-arm spinner who has resurrected his career since his move to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sussex-c852.
Tremlett won the last of his three Test caps against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in 2008. Panesar, who became something of a cult figure in his previous time with England, has earned his place in the tour party after proving himself with a successful domestic season which saw him take 52 first-class wickets for his new county.
Steven Davies, Tremlett’s teammate at Surry, has been the nod as England’s deputy wicketkeeper, behind Matt Prior of Sussex, and is the only member of the squad yet to play in a Test match.
The inclusion of Davies marks a remarkable seven months for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708, the Somerset wicketkeeper. He made his full international debut in February, just over two weeks after qualifying for England, and then helped England become the ICC World Twenty20 champions, hitting 63 in the final against Australia and earning the man-of-the-match award. But a loss of form during the summer has put him down the pecking order and he is part of the 16-man England Performance Programme squad, which will be based in Australia in the lead up to the first Ashes Test in Brisbane through until the start of the third Test in Perth.
Commenting on the selections, ECB national selector Geoff Miller speaking on the ECB website, said: “We believe we’ve selected an outstanding Test squad for what will be a fiercely contested Ashes series in Australia. In order to retain the Ashes we will need to play to a very high level and we believe we’ve selected a squad to do just that.
“Clearly there are always difficult decisions to make when selecting an England squad and this Ashes squad was no different. We feel that Chris Tremlett’s inclusion will add a real threat of pace and bounce to our bowling attack given the conditions in Australia.
“Chris will be vying for a place in the final team amongst a confident attack including James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn. We feel that, following an excellent season with Sussex, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Monty-Panesar-c2024 deserves his opportunity to assume the role as England’s second spinner behind Graeme Swann.
“Monty has gone away and worked on his bowling since his last England appearance and he continues to be an attacking threat with the ball in his hand.
“In terms of the second wicketkeeper’s role behind Matt Prior, Steven Davies has shown what he is capable of with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Surrey-c851 and England this year; his glovework and batting have continued to reach new levels.
“There is real competition for places in terms of the batsmen with a number of excellent candidates vying for selection for the first Test. Each batsman brings something different to the squad but all possess the ability to significantly contribute to a winning England team.”
Few captains will have gone into the bear pit of an away Ashes series, where England lost 5-0 last time around, than Andrew Strauss having proven beyond doubt that the role of captaincy has done nothing to erode his potency as an opening batsman. “I am excited by the Test squad we have selected for the upcoming Ashes series as I firmly believe we have a number of match-winners across all areas of the squad,” he said.
“It’s exciting to have the Ashes as our sole focus from this point on and I know every member of this Ashes squad will be relishing the challenge of retaining the Ashes in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. To captain England in an Ashes series Down Under is a huge honour and something I am looking forward to with enormous anticipation.
“We realise the challenge ahead of us in Australia but it is a test we welcome and look forward to meeting head on.”
2010-11 Ashes Test series dates:
First Test: November 25th-29th (Brisbane)
Second Test: December 3rd-7th (Adelaide)
Third Test: December 16th-20th (Perth)
Fourth Test: December 26th-30th (Melbourne)
Fifth Test: January 3rd-7th (Sydney)
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