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Stuart Lampitt has announced his retirement from County Cricket at the end of the current season and will take up a full time post as Cricket Development Officer for the Worcestershire Cricket Board in October.Lampitt first played for Worcestershire in 1985, gained his County Cap in 1989 and was awarded a Benefit in 2000. Over a long and successful career he has played in 236 1st class games scoring 5649 runs at an average of 23.83 including a single century against Middlesex at Lord’s in 1994. He has taken 601 wickets at an average of 28.65 including a career best 7-45 against Warwickshire at New Road in 2000. As recently as 2000 he was 28th in the national bowling averages.He was a regular Member of the team that won a total of 7 trophies during the late 80’s and early 90’s including the Championship twice in 1988 and 1989, the Refuge Assurance League twice in 1987 and 1988, the B & H Cup in 1991, the Natwest Trophy in 1994 and the Refuge Assurance Cup in 1991.His one day career has been outstanding and he is still a regular member of the current team chasing the Norwich Union League title this season. In all he has taken 356 one day wickets at an average of 24 including 16 wickets this season.Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, pays tribute to one of the County’s longest serving players. "Stuart will go down as one of the outstanding players in the County’s long and distinguished history. He has been the consummate professional – total commitment to one County, great skill with both bat and ball and a player you want out in the middle with you. The Club owes him a great debt and I am delighted he will remain involved with Worcestershire Cricket in the years ahead."Stuart Lampitt said "After discussions with immediate family and the coaching staff at Worcestershire CCC I have decided to retire from 1st Class cricket at the end of 2002 cricket season. Worcestershire CCC, under the guidance of Tom Moody, is currently building for future success and at present is in a period of transition. With this in mind I feel the time will be right for me to retire at the end of what I hope will be a successful season.Over the past sixteen years I have felt both privileged and honoured to have been given the opportunity to represent my local county at 1st class level and thankfully along the way have been fortunate enough to have experienced some wonderful success.I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone associated with the club both presently and over the recent past, the players, staff, members and supporters for their camaraderie, friendship and loyal support which has undoubtedly helped make my career such an enjoyable one.At the culmination of what promises to be an exciting climax to the season I can begin to look ahead to my new role with the Worcestershire Cricket Board (WCB) and to the fresh challenges that lie ahead. With the continued support and assistance of the numerous volunteers and partner organisations currently working alongside the WCB, I look forward in earnest to working towards sustaining the growth and development of the recreational game within the county whilst assisting in the long term plans of Worcestershire CCC."Mike Gilhooly, Chairman of the Worcestershire Cricket Board said "Stuart highly successfully carried out, on a temporary basis, the role of Cricket Development Officer to the Worcestershire Cricket Board during the winter months. Initiatives he put in place during that time have been implemented and have received much favourable comment. I warmly welcome Stuart to the full time appointment of Cricket Development Officer to the W.C.B., commencing October 1st 2002, and would say how very much members of the Board look forward to working with him.

Graeme Hick is setting his sights on yet another comeback into the England Test side.The Worcestershire captain was not awarded a central contract by the ECB after a disappointing winter with England.But at the age of 34 he is not ready to throw in the towel yet and, having been recalled ten times by England already, a return would hardly be unprecedented.Hick, currently leading Worcestershire against Middlesex at Lord’s, told PA Sport: “I’ve not had a good winter.”England played well as a side and it was fantastic to win both Test seriesbut it was certainly not my best winter personally.”If you don’t get many runs and you don’t perform, then I don’t expect toomuch.”But I’m still ambitious to play for England. I’m only 34, I’m still prettyfit and I see a lot of cricket ahead of me. It’s up to me to make sure my nameis in the hat (with England).”I still want to be playing Test cricket. First of all I’ve got a job to dohere now with Worcestershire but I’ve still got other goals beyond that I wantto achieve.”There are still things I would like to do which hopefully will keep memotivated. If I get a truckload of runs at the start of the season, we will haveto see what happens.”

India’s Test record against Zimbabwe is very much in keeping with their overall record of doing well at home but performing badly abroad. Out of the two Tests played between the two countries in Zimbabwe, India have lost one and drawn the other. On the other hand, in this country, out of the three Tests played, India have won two and drawn the other.Just five months after their historic inaugural Test in Harare, Zimbabwe came to India for a short tour comprising of three ODIs and a Test match with no illusions whatsoever. Aware of the fact that India at home were formidable opponents, Zimbabwe’s best hopes were to avoid defeat in the Test and prevent India from making a clean sweep of the one dayers. They failed in both their objectives but this was no surprise. For, India having made a clean sweep of the three Test series against England just prior to the contest against Zimbabwe were confidence personified.And yet Zimbabwe were not disgraced. They lost the ODIs by 67 runs, seven wickets and eight wickets but the second victory was registered with just three balls to spare. And the Indian margin of victory in the Test – an innings and 13 runs – was quite flattering. For Zimbabwe had the scent of a draw in their nostrils till half an hour after lunch on the fourth day before there was a dramatic turnabout in their fortunes.Batting first, India rattled up 536 for seven before declaring on the third day. The late declaration did not come about because of tardy batting – the runs indeed came at the rate of four an over – but because most of the third day was washed out thanks to primitive covers at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds which a minor shower had penetrated to reach the pitch and render the run ups soggy. The star of the Indian innings was Vinod Kambli. The dashing left hander from Bombay, playing in only his fourth Test, emulated Don Bradman andWalter Hammond in making double centuries in successive Test innings.Only three weeks before, he had scored 224 against England at Bombay.At the Kotla, he improved on this by three more runs but still failedto break Sunil Gavaskar’s unbeaten 236, the highest individual scoreby an Indian in Test matches. He shared in three successive centurystands with Navjot Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar and Md Azharuddin for thesecond, third and fourth wickets before being fifth out at 434. JohnTraicos, two months short of his 46th birthday, sent down 50 overs totake three for 186.Zimbabwe lost three wickets for 83 but the Flower brothers Andy and Grant not only steadied the boat but also gave the side the opportunity of drawing the match with a fourth wicket stand of 192 runs. At 275 for three, a little after lunch on the penultimate day, a draw was written all over the one off Test. At this juncture, Andy Flower, more aggressive than his brother, had a sudden rush of blood and charged Maninder Singh only to be stumped by Vijay Yadav. A runlater, Maninder had Grant Flower leg before and the complexion of the game had changed. Anil Kumble joined Maninder in the wicket taking act and by tea, Zimbabwe’s first innings had terminated at 322, just 15 runs short of averting the follow on. While Andy scored 115 in 289 minutes from 236 balls, Grant compiled 96 in 425 minutes and off 359 balls. Spinners Rajesh Chauhan (2), Maninder Singh (3) and Kumble (3) shared the wickets.With the pitch now turning, Zimbabwe faced an uphill task to save thematch and sure enough, they were all out for 201 on the finalafternoon. But the visitors did put up a fight, symbolised by AlistairCampbell’s 61 and Andy Flower’s unbeaten 62. This time Maninder (4)and Kumble (5) were the wreckers-in-chief. Kumble’s eight wicket haulin the match pushing his overall figures to 53 from ten Tests – thequickest any Indian bowler had reached 50 wickets.It was not until the 2000-2001 season that Zimbabwe again visited India, this time to play two Tests, two three day games and five ODIs. Zimbabwe had made big strides since the last tour and this time a keen duel for supremacy was predicted in both the Tests and the ODIs. However India again proved that at home they were formidable opposition. They won the ODI series by four matches to one, the lone Zimbabwe win coming by one wicket with one ball to spare. India also took the Test series by winning the first Test at New Delhi by sevenwickets while the second at Nagpur was drawn.The Test series was marked by tall scoring on both sides. Zimbabwe set the tone by hitting 422 in the first innings at New Delhi, Andy Flower again doing well on what must be his favourite ground. Following his scores of 115 and 62 not out in 1993, he came up with 183 not out. The Indians showed their batting prowess by replying with 458 for four declared. Rahul Dravid got an unbeaten 200 and added 213 runs for the third wicket with Sachin Tendulkar (122). Despite another fine knock by Andy Flower (70) Zimbabwe could not proceed beyond 225 in their second knock. Javagal Srinath took five for 60 to finish with a match haul of nine for 141. India, thanks to belligerent batting by Dravid (70 not out), Tendulkar (39) and skipper Sourav Ganguly (65 not out)hit off the requisite runs for the loss of three wickets.At Nagpur, India batted first and made the most of a docile wicket and some amiable bowling to run up 609 for six declared by the second evening. Opener Shiv Sundar Das led off with 110 and he was followed by Rahul Dravid (162) and Sachin Tendulkar who went on to get 201 not out. Das and Dravid put on 155 runs for the second wicket and Dravid and Tendulkar added a further 249 runs for the third. Far from being overawed by the imposing Indian total, Zimbabwe were equal to the task. Thanks in the main to Grant Flower’s unbeaten 106, they made 382 in their first innings. Following on 227 runs behind, Zimbabwe on a pitch that was still full of runs, were never in danger of defeat and when the match ended, they were 503 for six. Alistair Campbell got 102 but the star was again the irrepressible Andy Flower. Following his 55 in the first innings, he scored 232 not out the second time around giving him an aggregate of 540 runs and an average of 270 for the series. Verily, he was the man of the series.

ScorecardA stunning half-century by Brandan Nash helped Kent to a thrilling five-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road to keep their semi-final hopes in the Clydesdale Bank 40 alive.Northants posted 232 for 9 from their 40 overs as captain Alex Wakely made 74 from 76 balls and youngster Christian Davis blasted 54 off 50 with Matt Coles taking three for 45. Despite Con de Lange’s 3 for 35 Kent reached their target with eight balls to spare as former West Indies international Nash hammered an unbeaten 70 off just 52 deliveries.Northants won the toss and chose to bat and Kyle Coetzer was unfortunate to be run out for 11 in the sixth over when bowler Simon Cook tipped Rob Newton’s straight drive on to the stumps. Newton himself clobbered 45 off 41 balls before he was sharply taken at short midwicket by Coles off the bowling of James Tredwell.David Sales (15) was then trapped lbw by Darren Stevens and two balls later, wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien edged the same bowler to Tredwell at slip. Wakely, however, hung around to complete his half-century off 52 balls and Davis later raced past 50 off 47 deliveries as part of a fifth-wicket stand of 89.Wakely departed by smashing Coles to Sam Billings at long on and Davis soon followed when he launched Cook to Coles at long off. Rob Keogh (1) was comfortably caught at square leg by Stevens off Coles before de Lange (18) swept Cook to Alex Blake at fine leg. Jack Brooks (5) then departed when he was well-taken at mid-on by Tredwell off the bowling of Coles in the final over.Chasing 233, Kent got off to a bad start when they lost Billings for 12 in the fourth over when Olly Stone’s delivery clipped his off stump. Kent captain Rob Key then went cheaply on 27 by smashing de Lange straight to Coetzer at long off before Stevens (8) dragged David Burton onto his stumps.Sam Northeast then fell on 44 by playing de Lange’s delivery on to his leg stump before he claimed his third wicket by bowling Blake for 8. But Nash helped them towards their target by smashing 50 off 41 balls and former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones completed a half-century of his own two balls quicker.Jones finished on 52 not out and Nash unbeaten on 70 as the pair put on 107, scoring the winning run in the penultimate over of the match.

Victor Mpitsang claimed his second five wicket haul of the season as Free State skittled Eastern Province for just 180 on day one of this Supersport Series Super Eight match at Goodyear Park on Thursday.Neither side can reach the final this year, but Mpitsang made themost of the opportunity to showcase the skills which earned him a place inthe national squad two years ago.On a pitch which offered plenty of lateral movement, Eastern Provincelooked to have done well in reaching 48 without loss as Carl Bradfield (35)and Umar Abrahams (13) batted watchfully. But the importance of winning thetoss was underlined as Mpitsang got his foot in the door and then kicked itwide open.Abrahams, James Bryant (0) and Dave Callaghan (0) were all dismissedwithin two Mpitsang overs, to leave EP reeling at 48/3. As Herman Bakkes -recalled to the Free State side in place of Dewald Pretorius who has ahamstring twinge – offered good support at the other end, Free State ranthrough the middle order.Their task was made easier when Bradfield was forced to retire hurt on33 when he received a clanging blow to the box. Although he tried to soldieron, the pain was quite clearly too much and he had to leave the field fortreatment. Insult was added to injury when he could add only two more runswhen he returned to the crease at the fall of Mark Benfield.Free State will be annoyed that they allowed Meyrick Pringle to add 25breezy runs towards the end – a score of 150 or less was probably all EPdeserved. Pringle, keen to protect Mornantau Hayward at the other end,blasted three fours and a huge six off an Mpitsang no-ball.Two wickets before the close as Free State took their turn at the creasewill help EP sleep a touch better, but Kosie Venter has been in fine formrecently and he is still there, ominously poised to unleash on 19.

Northamptonshire have signed Australia fast bowler Jackson Bird for 2014, completing their squad for their return to Division One of the County Championship next season.Another Australian, Trent Copeland, was a major factor in Northants winning promotion last season and the club hope Bird will have a similar impact to help them survive in the top division.Copeland could not obtain a work visa for 2014 but Bird, who could feature in the upcoming Ashes, has no such issues and has signed a deal to play ten Championship matches and seven Twenty20s.Bird, 26, has taken 109 first-class wickets at 20.77 and earned three Test caps, the last of which was against England at Durham in August.Chief executive David Smith said Bird’s signing completed the club’s recruitment for next season. They have also added fast bowler Maurice Chambers, released by Essex having spent most of 2013 on loan at Warwickshire, and spinner Graeme White, who returns to the county he began his career with after a brief sojourn at Nottinghamshire.Allrounders Steven Crook and the highly-rated David Willey are among a host of other players to have signed new deals at Wantage Road.”The club has demonstrated following promotion to Division One, its desire to retain its best players and carefully recruit players that we believe will strengthen the current squad within its cricket playing budget,” Smith said.”Along with the significant recent investment into ground facilities, the club now believes it is making real progress towards becoming a county that all members, supporters and players can be really proud of.”

Overview
For the first time in six seasons, the Wanderers trophy cabinet had to be opened to add something. The Lions won the domestic 20-over competition for their first outright victory – they shared the one-day cup – since 2006/07 and capped off a stellar season for new coach Geoffrey Toyana.After a period of underachievement, something changed at the franchise. Gone were the days when they had to look elsewhere for players, such as when they last won a cup with Cape Town-based Justin Ontong and Charl Langeveldt in their ranks, because they placed faith in their own.Therein lies the Lions’ greatest strength. Without many ‘superstars’ they have built a unit that relies on collective performances, particularly in the bowling department. They had five bowlers in the top six of the competition last season. Hardus Viljoen led the charts with 17 wickets at 17.35, followed by Sohail Tanvir, Aaron Phangio and Chris Morris. Imran Tahir was sixth on the charts.With Morris playing for Chennai Super Kings, it will up to Viljoen and Tanvir to lead the attack but they also have acquired the services of Lonwabo Tsotosbe, who was allowed to play for them despite not turning out in the domestic campaign. They also have two international spinners in Tahir and Phangiso.Their batting contains an individual who stands out in Quinton de Kock. He forced his way into the national team with stand-out performances in the shortest format, after topping the run-scorers’ list last season with 524 runs from 11 matches, including a big hundred which saw him handpicked for bigger things, although he has yet to fulfil that promise particularly on the subcontinent. He appears to have been relieved of the gloves, with Thami Tsolekile the designated wicketkeeper, which will free him up to concentrate on his batting.The likes of Neil McKenzie and Jean Symes complete a balanced unit that, for the first time in a long while, seems happy in its own skins. Whether they will be able to repeat the success of their domestic season in foreign conditions will be the biggest challenge.Key players
When Imran Tahir was last in India, it was for the 2011 World Cup. He was South Africa’s second-highest wicket-taker but mysteriously did not play limited-overs cricket after that until the recent tour of Sri Lanka.There, he demonstrated excellent control and plucked wickets at important times. His confidence is obviously renewed after he was dropped from the Test squad following a hammering against Australia in Adelaide and the Lions played an important part in that by nurturing him at domestic level and he will no doubt want to repay them.Although he is not the captain, McKenzie is Lions’ most important leader. Having played for the franchise for more than a decade, although he moved away for a brief period, McKenzie plays like a content man would. He puts in his bets, does a lot of work with the younger batsmen and he is never short of an idea in the field. He has spoken about this being his last season, although if all goes well, he may be convinced to stay on.Weaknesses
Many of Lions’ youngsters have not had much experience in India before, although some of them may have traveled there on emerging tours. During their build-up, Toyana said he’d prefer to practice on pitches that were more subcontinental in nature than the bouncy Wanderers wicket. They played a warm-up match in Mamelodi against the Titans on a slow, low track and trained in Potchefstroom, which is flatter in nature. Like the IPL sides, who initially struggled in South Africa last year, Lions’ biggest challenge will be adapting quickly.Surprise package
Much of the hype over the last season has been over de Kock but there is another young batsman commanding attention. Rassie van der Dussen won the CSA awards for Club Championship Player of the Year and Provincial One-day Player of the Year for a tournament in which he scored 349 runs in six matches at an average of 87.25. He is a clean hitter of the ball with an exceptional eye and was drafted into the Lions squad in the latter parts of last season. If he gets the opportunity to play, expect him to grab it with big shots.

ScorecardEd Joyce’s hundred surpassed Alex Hales’ effort•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire missed the chance to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 after Sussex reached a daunting target of 291 to win by four wickets at Hove. They were led to victory by skipper Ed Joyce who carried his bat for an unbeaten 123, the 13th one-day hundred of his career.Opener Alex Hales made 101 and David Hussey 82 as Nottinghamshire plundered 105 off the last 10 overs to post a formidable total of 290 for 5.But Luke Wright and Joyce launched the reply with 112 off 13 overs and even when Wright fell for 62, Matt Machan, whose 51 came off just 28 balls, maintained the momentum. Sussex wobbled briefly towards the end of their chase before they got home with nine balls to spare.Nottinghamshire now need to beat Kent at Canterbury in their final game on August 26 to make sure of their place in the last four. If they lose Northamptonshire, who are a point behind them in Group C, will go through instead if they win their last match against Warwickshire in Birmingham.Notts made a bad start after winning the toss and batting first. Michael Lumb was lbw to the third ball of the innings from Lewis Hatchett and the same bowler picked up a second wicket in the third over. James Taylor, who played for Sussex last month as a guest against Australia, was superbly caught low down by Chris Jordan at slip to leave Notts 11 for 2.But that was Sussex’s last success for 16 overs as Hales and Samit Patel rebuilt the innings with a stand of 102 before Chris Liddle had Patel caught on the long-leg boundary off a slog-sweep for 43. Hales reached his 50 off 43 balls with his sixth boundary and went to his fourth List A hundred off a further 44 deliveries with 11 fours and a pulled six off Jordan. Two balls after reaching three figures he was superbly caught by Rory Hamilton-Brown running in from the long-on boundary.Hussey had been dropped on 17 at short cover by Mike Yardy and he made the most of the reprieve, adding 81 in 45 balls with Riki Wessels as he finished undefeated on 82 from 64 balls with seven fours and a six.A score of 290 should have been defended but Notts bowled poorly from the start and Sussex had 71 on the board at the end of the eight-over Power play. Wright, who made 114 on Tuesday against Netherlands was soon into his stride as he reached 50 from 33 balls and it was a surprise when he fell in the 13th over to a catch on the mid-wicket boundary after making 62 from 49 balls with three sixes and four fours.He had given Sussex the perfect platform and Machan was soon taking Notts’ attack apart, reaching his half-century from just 25 balls. He was caught at short fine-leg off Hussey for 51 but Sussex needed 83 from 17 overs at that stage and Joyce was in no mood to let the advantage slip.There was a brief wobble when the Sharks lost four wickets for 26 in seven overs and things might have been different had Patel not spilled a straightforward chance at extra cover when Joyce was on 108. But Will Beer joined him to contribute an unbeaten 20 and sealed victory with a six off Jake Ball. Joyce’s 123 – his second one-day hundred of the season – came off 109 balls with 16 boundaries.

Match facts

Saturday, July 27, 2013
Start time 1400 local (1800 GMT)West Indies have not lost a single Twenty20 since winning the World T20 last year•WICB Media

Big Picture

In what has been a disappointing home season for West Indies, with the twin failures in the tri-series and a 3-1 defeat in the one-day series to Pakistan, the hosts have a chance to salvage pride in a format that hasn’t let them down in recent months – Twenty20. Since winning the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year, West Indies have not dropped a single game, and with history on their side, nothing less than a 2-0 triumph will be enough to bring some cheer to their fans as the islands prepare for a brace of T20s in the form of the Caribbean Premier League, which gets underway two days after the two back-to-back games against Pakistan.Save for series victories against unfancied Zimbabwe at home, West Indies have been a let down against better opposition, starting from the Champions Trophy. The expectations were raised after winning a world title last year and winning six consecutive Tests (albeit against the weaker sides). Fatigue was one of the factors attributed to their slump, with several key batsmen like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo taking active part in the IPL and other leagues, without much rest between series. It has shown in the performances in at least two of the three players and there is very little time to turn the corner. It was a forgettable season for another reason: the decision to sacrifice Tests for more one-dayers for monetary reasons and accommodating the CPL is unpalatable for the cricket purist. It appears that T20s are the flavour of the season, starting Saturday.Not too long ago, Pakistan had endured a similar slump, bowing out of the Champions Trophy without a win. Commonsense prevailed when the selectors chose not to make the captain the scapegoat and instead recalled impact players like Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal, who made vital contributions in the one-dayers. The batsmen had a lot to answer for after the debacle in England and in testing batting conditions in the West Indies, there was an improvement, at least in the last three games. Misbah-ul-Haq, much ridiculed for his conservative approach to batting which sometimes drastically slows down the innings, was the pivot around which the batting revolved. His one-day numbers in 2013 speak for themselves, but he is not around for the T20s. Can Pakistan be just as effective without him?

Form guide

West Indies WWWWW (most recent first, last five completed matches)
Pakistan WLWLW

In the spotlight

It has been a trying few months for Dwayne Bravo, who hasn’t had the best start to full-time captaincy, though he is in charge only for one-dayers. His batting in the final overs has been effective, contributing two quick 40s in recent matches, but the same can’t be said about his bowling at the death. West Indies have been guilty of leaking too many and in this case the captain has been just as bad, if not worse, than the rest. Still, it didn’t deter Bravo from bringing himself on, as West Indies looked for dot balls and wickets in the last two one-dayers. Now under Darren Sammy’s leadership, it remains to be seen if he will bowl Bravo out early or risk him in the slog overs.Umar Akmal belongs to the breed of talented cricketers who infuriate more than delight. Recalled for this tour, playing as a wicketkeeper-batsman, Akmal’s batting form has been encouraging. His unbeaten 40 in the third one-dayer provided the innings a boost after Misbah’s stonewalling; his unbeaten 29 in the fourth helped Pakistan sail home in a truncated chase and his 28-ball 37 helped Pakistan edge closer in the final game, though he couldn’t finish it off. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing comeback.

Team news

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels missed West Indies’ last T20 series, against Zimbabwe, but both should take their places here. West Indies have the option of playing two spinners, with Samuel Badree in the squad.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Lendl Simmons, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tino Best, 11 Shannon Gabriel/Samuel BadreeFor Pakistan, Sohail Tanvir, Zulfiqar Babar and Hammad Azam have flown in for the T20s.Pakistan (probable) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 4 Umar Akmal (wk), 5 Haris Sohail/ Hammad Azam, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sohail Tanvir, 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Stats and trivia

• St Vincent will be hosting its first ever T20 international
• Remarkably, Pakistan and West Indies have played only one T20 against each other overall. West Indies won that encounter two years ago

Quotes

“We are World T20 champions; this is the format I think we are best at and we have to show why at St Vincent.”

James Taylor, Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar have all been included in an expanded 14-man squad for the third Investec Ashes Test at Old Trafford. Steven Finn, who was left out at Lord’s in favour of Tim Bresnan, and Graham Onions have been dropped, while Kevin Pietersen is included with his calf injury, which is progressing well, due to be assessed closer to the match.The recalls for Tremlett, who last played for England against Pakistan in the UAE early last year, and Panesar reflect the conditions that are expected at Old Trafford where traditionally, pace, bounce and spin come to the fore. However, it remains unlikely that England will tinker with the bowling attack that was so impressive at Lord’s.Tremlett’s return is a significant blow for Finn, who was in the three-man pace attack just two Tests ago but does not even feature in a 14-man squad now. He has been working on technical aspects of his run-up and delivery for most of the year and in Test cricket has rarely looked completely comfortable.Tremlett trained with the England squad during the Lord’s Test as he continues to build up his workload during the season after missing the majority of 2012 with a series of injuries, the most serious of them being to his back. England are keen to have him available for the Ashes in Australia later this year after the impact he had during the 2010-11 series.Last month, he told ESPNcricinfo that he was confident his body would now allow him to get through Test matches again. “If I was picked for a Test tomorrow I’d be confident,” he said. “If you had asked me that three games into the season, my honest answer would have been that I’m not ready to play Test cricket. But now I have some games under my belt, I have my confidence back. I feel I’m ready now. I’ve no doubt.”

Lofty options

Steven Finn
Tests 23 Wickets 90 Ave 29.40 SR 48.3
Chris Tremlett
Tests 11 Wickets 49 Ave 26.75 SR 54.8

Panesar, the other bowler brought into the squad, remains England’s second spinner in Test cricket despite a difficult tour of New Zealand where he had to take on the main role in Graeme Swann’s absence. He enjoyed some success against the Australians at Hove with 3 for 70, which followed a five-wicket haul against Middlesex, although his overall Championship returns this season are a modest 21 wickets at 40.09.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “Chris Tremlett has worked hard to regain fitness and form following a couple of injuries and his performances for Surrey this season have been very encouraging. Including an additional spinner in Monty Panesar who has plenty of international experience provides Alastair Cook and Andy Flower with a number of options.”Kevin Pietersen is continuing his recovery from a calf strain and he will be assessed by the medical team closer to the start of the Test and we have therefore included an extra batsman in James Taylor who has been in good form for Nottinghamshire this season.” Miller said. Taylor is currently playing for Sussex against the Australians in the tour match at Hove.It would be a quirk of fate if it were to be Taylor who replaced Pietersen, given the stories that emerged following his Test debut against South Africa, at Headingley last year, where he had an extended partnership with Pietersen, although may not have overly impressed his senior team-mate.After being abruptly dropped after his two appearances against South Africa, and not even named in the England performance squad at the start of the season, Taylor was told to churn out the runs at domestic level and work on some technical flaws which concerned the selectors, specifically his ability to handle deliveries outside off stump.His performances for Nottinghamshire, where he has made 824 runs at 58.85 in the Championship, mean he has done all he can at county level to make the selectors consider him again.Squad Alastair Cook (capt), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, James Taylor, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Monty Panesar