Mahmood named in England performance squad
Sajid Mahmood named in England's 25-man performance squad
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Wednesday, 08, Apr 2009 10:18
Lancashire pace bowler Sajid Mahmood has forced his way back into the England reckoning after being named in the elite performance squad for this summer.
The Bolton-born 27-year-old, whose last appearance for the national side at Test level was in the Ashes series against Australia in 2006/07, is one of 25 men named in the initial lineup.
Essex wicketkeeper James Foster is also a surprise inclusion, along with young Yorkshire spinner Adil Rashid - the only uncapped player to be selected.
"Two players who have earned the right to be in the squad are James Foster of Essex and Lancashire's Sajid Mahmood," said national selector Geoff Miller.
"They are pressing for a place in the England squads and we will watch Mahmood, Foster and Rashid with interest when they play for the MCC against Durham at Lord's this weekend.
"Samit Patel, like Amjad Khan, has already been in the international set up in the last 12 months."
The squad, chosen by the England selectors, contains 12 players on ECB central contracts and seven on incremental contracts.
Kent captain Roby Key has also been included, fuelling speculation that he is set to be named as England captain for this year's World Twenty20, while Amjad Khan - who made his Test debut against West Indies in the winter, is also picked.
Another notable inclusion is former England captain Michael Vaughan, who has - by all accounts - been in excellent touch with the bat this winter as he bids to force his way into the reckoning for the 2009 Ashes.
"The England performance squad is designed to allow us to monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game," Miller continued.
"In the case of someone like Amjad Khan, who impressed everyone when he joined the latter part of the Caribbean tour, it allows us to monitor his progress after injury."
He added an original list of 30 players was drawn up but the decision was made to keep five places vacant to allow the addition of further players if performances in the domestic game merited it.
Full 25-man England performance squad:
Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire)
James Anderson( Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Ravi Bopara (Essex)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)
James Foster (Essex)
Stephen Harmison (Durham)
Robert Key (Kent)
Amjad Khan (Kent)
Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire)
Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire)
Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)
Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
Matthew Prior (Sussex)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Owais Shah (Middlesex)
Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)
Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)
Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)
Luke Wright (Sussex)