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England captain Nasser Hussain says that the 11 players handed central contracts by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will not automatically be selected to play Sri Lanka in the forthcoming home series, which starts at Lord's on May 16. "In two weeks' time we'll sit down and do something completely different - pick the best Test side to beat Sri Lanka," Hussain was quoted as saying to BBC Online.

"Obviously the boys with contracts will be high on our list but we'll be picking the best 12 or 13 for that match. "But we'll look at the conditions at Lord's, who's played well at Lord's and how we have won there before." Hussain's comments will come as reassurance to veteran wicket-keeper Alec Stewart, whose name was missing from the list, named at the beginning of this month. It will be an incentive to players such as John Crawley, who started the season with a double century for new county Hampshire, And it will encourage several of the younger players who attended England's Academy in Australia over the winter and have begun the season well.

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