Related Link : West Indies in England 2007
Michael Vaughan has been ruled out of the first test against West Indies with a broken finger. Andrew Strauss will be leading the side in his absence. England have picked a 12-man squad for the opening test at Lord’s.
Owais Shah makes a comeback in the side, the right hander has appeared in just the one test so far in his career. The surprise inclusion is that of Matt Prior, getting selected ahead of the hard working Paul Nixon, who had a good time with the One Day Side. The side has been packed with four pacers – Hoggard, Harmison, Flintoff and Plunkett to go with the lone spinner in Monty Panesar.
Vaughan isn’t the only injury problem for England. Kevin Pietersen is still recovering from a calf muscle strain while Freddie Flintoff is having an ankle injury. James Anderson has been added as a cover for the injured Flintoff. This will be the first test match for the new England Coach – Peter Moores, the successor of Duncan Fletcher.
England squad : Andrew Strauss (Captain), Alastair Cook, Owais Shah, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Prior (Wicket Keeper), Liam Plunkett, Monty Panesar, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard