LONDON, Nov 2: England will head to India with one of their most inexperienced bowling line-ups in recent years later this month after calling up uncapped Martyn Ball and Richard Johnson into their 16-man squad.

The two were named on Friday as replacements for Andy Caddick and Robert Croft, who have both opted out of the tour over security concerns.

The team will be without its usual pace spearhead of Caddick (181 wickets in 50 Tests) and Darren Gough (228 wickets in 56), who had already made himself unavailable for the tour.

Somerset pace bowler Johnson will vie for a starting slot with Jimmy Ormond (one wicket, one Test) and Matthew Hoggard (six wickets, two Tests).

Spinner Ashley Giles and all-rounder Craig White, meanwhile, have yet to pass final fitness tests before the team departs on Nov 13.

Neither Johnson or Ball are in the flush of youth. Johnson is 26 and Ball, an off-spinner from Gloucestershire, 31.

If Giles, hampered by a long-term Achilles problem, is ruled out next week then England’s specialist spin attack, so vital on Indian pitches, would be based on Ball and Richard Dawson, who have never played for England at either Test or one-day level.

The Indian cricket board had given England a deadline of Nov 5 to name their squad after a string of players expressed their concerns over the tour.

John Carr, the England and Wales director of cricket operations, is currently in India discussing security arrangements.

Squad: Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Nasser Hussain (captain), Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Warren Hegg, James Foster, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Martyn Ball, Richard Dawson, Jimmy Ormond, Matthew Hoggard, Richard Johnson.—Reuters