October 20, 2007	Saturday	Shawwal 7, 1428

LONDON, Oct 19: England opener Andrew Strauss has been dropped for his country’s forthcoming Test tour of Sri Lanka. Strauss was missing from the 15-man England squad named on Friday after a disappointing run of form, which saw him average just 27 over the last year.

He had been awarded a central contract recently but that was not enough to save his place in Michael Vaughan’s side for the three-Test series in December.

There was no place for Mark Ramprakash even though he has averaged over 100 in county cricket for the last two seasons. Steve Harmison, who has not played since a hernia operation, will feature if he proves his fitness in a short stint in South African domestic cricket in November.

England squad: Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Philip Mustard (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire).—AFP