Strauss left out of England Twenty20 squad
Test and one-day captain Andrew Strauss was omitted from the
provisional 30-man England squad announced here Monday for the ICC World
Twenty20 in June.
Boundary-hitting
Middlesex opening batsman Strauss does not feel his game is suited to
the Twenty20 format, where he has played just four matches, and which
puts the emphasis on powerful boundary-hitting rather than the patient
accumulation of runs for which the left-hander is well known.
Tournament hosts England have delayed naming their captain for the
event, with the likes of Kent batsman Robert Key and Dimitri Mascarehnas
in line to lead the team.
Strauss took over the England captaincy after Kevin Pietersen, who is
in the Twenty20 squad, was stripped of the position following problems
during the tour of India late last year which cost Peter Moores his post
as England coach.
National selector
Geoff Miller, England's national selector, explained Strauss's
omission by saying here on Monday: "Andrew Strauss had an outstanding
tour of the West Indies during a difficult winter.
"Andrew and the selectors believe his game is better suited to Test
and one-day international cricket and it is for that reason he has not
been selected in the preliminary 30-man squad for the forthcoming ICC
World Twenty20," the former England off-spinner added.
"Andrew is focused on the Test and ODI format of the game despite not
being included in the 30-man Twenty20 squad.
"The selectors have decided against naming a captain for the ICC
World Twenty20 at this stage because we feel it is important to
comprehensively review the recent tour of the Caribbean and seek input
from all relevant parties including the incoming England team director
who is yet to be appointed.
"Once these processes have been achieved the selectors will name
England's Twenty20 captain in due course."
Since Moores's departure, England have had no permanent coach with
assistant coach Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe international, in
caretaker charge.
Standards
Off-spinner Shaun Udal, who turned 40 last month, was included as was
Samit Patel, despite recently being left out of the Twenty20 and one-day
matches in the West Indies after failing to "reach acceptable standards
of fitness for international cricket.".
Fast bowler
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff and fast bowler Stephen Harmison were
also in a squad which featured five players yet to be capped by England
in Kent batsman Joe Denly from Kent, the big-hitting Graham Napier, a
star for Essex in domestic Twenty20, Middlesex's former Ireland
international Eoin Morgan, Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid and
Warwickshire seam bowler Chris Woakes.
England failed to reach the knockout stages in the inaugural World
Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, where India beat Pakistan in the
final.
They will, in common with all the other teams, have to cut their
squad to 15 by May 1 for the tournament itself which starts on June 5.
England 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20, June 5-21:
Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim
Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies (wkt), Joe Denly,
James Foster (wkt), Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Robert Key, Sajid
Mahmood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Samit Patel,
Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior (wkt), Adil Rashid, Owais
Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Shaun Udal, Chris
Woakes, Luke Wright. LONDON, AFP
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