Stevens and Tredwell named in England World Cup squad

The England selectors today named Kent duo Darren Stevens and James Tredwell in the 30-man preliminary squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 which will be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from February 19 – April 2.

The squad, which will be halved by January 19, includes all of those players named in the ODI squad for the series against Australia as well as eight members of the England Lions squad set to tour the West Indies next year. Stuart Broad, who has been ruled out of the current tour of Australia due to an abdominal injury, is included and is joined in the squad by Test squad members Alastair Cook, Steven Finn and Matt Prior.

Commenting on the selection of Stevens and Tredwell, Kent“s Team Director, Paul Farbrace, said: “I am thrilled for both of them to be included in the preliminary squad. It is great for both players and thoroughly deserved. It reflects well on the one-day cricket the team has played. It would be brilliant for them and the Club to both be included in the final 15.”

England have been drawn in a group alongside Bangladesh, India, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies. The team will play two warm-up games against Canada and Pakistan before beginning their World Cup campaign on February 22 against Netherlands in Nagpur, India.

England 30-man ICC World Cup squad: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex) (Captain), James Adams (Hampshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Davies (Surrey), Jade Dernbach (Surrey), Steven Finn (Middlesex), James Hildreth (Somerset), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Michael Lumb (Hampshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire), Darren Stevens (Kent), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Tremlett (Surrey), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex), Michael Yardy (Sussex)

Picture:Sarah Ansell