England rest Strauss, Cook named captain
Alastair Cook, 25, is touted as a future permanent England cricket captain
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Monday, 18, Jan 2010 04:09
By Alistair Potter.
The England selectors have named Alastair Cook as stand-in Test and one-day captain after announcing Andrew Strauss will be rested from the upcoming tour of Bangladesh.
Opening batsman Strauss will sit out the tour alongside fast bowler James Anderson, who is due to be treated for a chronic right knee injury.
The tour includes a trip to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan in two Twenty20 internationals for which Paul Collingwood will retain the captaincy.
National selector Geoff Miller said: "Andrew Strauss has provided outstanding leadership for the team in both forms of the game over the past 12 months and the selectors feel it is important that he takes a break ahead of an extremely busy programme of international cricket leading up to and including the Ashes series in Australia and the Cricket World Cup in 2011.
"Our decision to appoint Alastair Cook to the Test vice-captaincy last year clearly demonstrated the belief that he has the potential to be a future England captain.
"Alastair will now have an opportunity to develop his leadership skills still further by leading the side in both forms of cricket in Bangladesh and I know that he is excited by the challenge and looking forward to working closely with Andy Flower.
"Paul Collingwood had an excellent tour of South Africa in all forms of cricket and he will continue to lead the side in the T20 format with the two T20 internationals against the current world champions Pakistan providing excellent preparation for us ahead of the World T20 in the Caribbean."
Anderson and Strauss are the only men missing from the squad that beat South Africa in the most recent one-day series and drew the Test series 1-1.
However, to cover the withdrawals England have called up two uncapped bowlers and an uncapped batsman.
Yorkshire pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad and Kent off-spinner James Tredwell have won places in both squads while Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry is included in the 16-man Test lineup.
"We are delighted to welcome Ajmal Shahzad to both squads for the first time," Miller continued.
"He enjoyed an excellent season with Yorkshire last year, made a strong impression while he was in South Africa with the EPP [England Performance Programme] squad and is a bowler with the potential to make a real impact in international cricket.
"James Tredwell and Michael Carberry have also continued to impress the selectors over the course of the winter and we expect both players to make a strong challenge for inclusion in our starting line-up on the forthcoming tour."
Speaking about his surprise call-up Shahzad said he was initially disappointed not to get the call for the England Lions squad.
"I had no idea I was going to be in the squad. I was disappointed, to say the least, that I wasn't selected in the England Lions squad that got announced [last week]," he explained.
"I got a few phone calls saying how come I hadn't been involved or added, but I had no answer to them.
"I gave Dave Parsons a ring and he said 'look, you just need to hang fire for a little while - I can't tell you the information. I can't give you the reason why, but Geoff Miller will give you a ring soon and you'll know about it then'.
"It was a massive relief to get the call and I'm just delighted to be selected for the tour."
Tredwell was equally delighted by the news that he could represent England for the first time in Bangladesh.
"I'm delighted to be going to Bangladesh with England. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to South Africa but going to Bangladesh may give me be a better chance of getting a game because conditions might suit playing two spinners," he said.
"We have a strong squad and I'm very much looking forward to my first tour to Bangladesh."
The two T20 internationals against Pakistan take place on February 19th and 20th, while the squad touring Bangladesh arrives there on February 21st with three ODIs in early March and two Tests to follow later in the month.
One-day squad:
1. Alastair Cook (Essex, captain)
2. Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)
3. Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
4. Paul Collingwood (Durham)
5. Joe Denly (Kent)
6. Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)
7. Matthew Prior (Sussex)
8. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
9. Liam Plunkett (Durham)
10. Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
11. Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire)
12. Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)
13. James Tredwell (Kent)
14. Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)
15 Luke Wright (Sussex)
Test squad:
1. Alastair Cook (Essex, captain)
2. Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
3. Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
4. Michael Carberry (Hampshire)
5. Paul Collingwood (Durham)
6. Steven Davies (Surrey)
7. Graham Onions (Durham)
8. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
9. Liam Plunkett (Durham)
10. Matthew Prior (Sussex)
11. Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire)
12. Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
13. Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)
14. James Tredwell (Kent)
15. Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)
16. Luke Wright (Sussex)