England selectors name 13-man squad for 1st Ashes Test

ENGLAND have named a 13-man squad for the first npower Ashes Test against Australia at Cardiff, starting on Wednesday.

Ian Bell and Graham Onions (pictured) have been added to the eleven that drew with Warwickshire in the recent three-day warm-up game at Edgbaston.

The full squad is:
Andrew Strauss (captain) – Middlesex
James Anderson – Lancashire
Ian Bell – Warwickshire
Ravi Bopara – Essex
Stuart Broad – Nottinghamshire
Paul Collingwood – Durham
Alastair Cook – Essex
Andrew Flintoff – Lancashire
Graham Onions – Durham
Monty Panesar – Northamptonshire
Kevin Pietersen – Hampshire
Matt Prior – Sussex
Graeme Swann – Nottinghamshire

National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “We were delighted with the way in which the team performed in the warm-up match at Edgbaston and it was very encouraging to see Andrew Flintoff bowl so well on his return to the side.

“We were keen to show consistency in selection and retain the nucleus of the side that performed so well against West Indies in the npower Test series earlier this summer. Graham Onions has made an excellent start to his Test career and gives us a different option when we consider the make-up of our bowling attack and the type of conditions we will encounter.

“Ian Bell has performed well in County cricket this summer and he will act as cover batsman for this Test Match should any of our established batsmen be unavailable through injury.

“There is healthy competition for places in our starting line-up at present and the strong performance by the England Lions against Australia at Worcester demonstrated that we are starting to develop a larger squad of players who can compete effectively with international class players.”

Picture: Getty Images