LONDON, May 30: England named Tim Ambrose in their squad for the Twenty20 and One-day Internationals against New Zealand, giving him the chance to establish himself as first-choice wicket-keeper in all forms of the game.
Ambrose was the only uncapped player in the 14-man line-up named on Friday but played England’s last five Test matches to earn selection ahead of Phil Mustard, who failed to impress in New Zealand in February.
Mustard and spinner James Tredwell were the players dropped from the squad that lost 3-1 to the Black Caps in New Zealand, with all the others retained in a slimmed down line-up.
“Tim Ambrose has already shown that he has the temperament and the ability required to succeed in Test cricket and his selection reflects our desire to use the same wicket-keeper in both the long and short forms of the game,” national selector Geoff Miller said.
“Phil Mustard will, of course, be disappointed not to have been selected on this occasion but he remains a player of terrific potential and we will continue to monitor his performances closely along with a number of other wicket-keepers in domestic cricket.”
Miller added that coach Peter Moores and captain Paul Collingwood still have to discuss who will take over as opening batsman from Mustard.
England, who lead the current three-match Test series 1-0 going into next week’s third Test at Trent Bridge, did not consider recalling all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for the June 13 Twenty20 or the five ODIs.
“Andrew is still recovering from a side strain and we would prefer to wait until he is 100 percent fit before considering him for selection,” Miller said.
“His rehabilitation is progressing well at present and we are optimistic that he will be available for selection later in the summer.”
Squad: Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Alistair Cook, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Luke Wright.—AP
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