Sidebottom gets England call

22 May 2007

Ryan Sidebottom on his only appearance for England six years ago © Getty Images

England have named a 13-man squad under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan for the second npower Test against West Indies at Headingley starting on Friday.

With Matthew Hoggard unavailable due to a thigh strain, the England selectors have called Lancashire pace bowler James Anderson and Nottinghamshire left-armer Ryan Sidebottom into the squad.

Twenty-nine-year-old Sidebottom, who played in one Test against Pakistan in 2001, is recalled to the squad after a six-year absence from international cricket.

Middlesex batsman Owais Shah has been omitted following Michael Vaughan’s recovery from injury.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: “We are naturally disappointed to lose a bowler of Matthew Hoggard’s calibre for this Test match but remain optimistic that he will be available for the 3rd npower Test.

“The inclusion of James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom in the squad is designed to provide us with different options within our pace bowling unit.

“With Jon Lewis and Stuart Broad unavailable through injury, we were keen to identify a bowler who could add variety to the attack.

“Ryan has been a consistent performer for Nottinghamshire over the last two seasons, is familiar with the Headingley pitch through his time with Yorkshire and deserves a further opportunity at this level.

“Michael Vaughan came through his net session today without any adverse reaction while Andrew Flintoff practiced earlier today but did not bowl as a precaution.

“We will need to reassess Andrew’s fitness over the next 48 hours and our plan is for him to bowl in practice on consecutive days to see if there is any further reaction to his ankle injury.”

England Test squad

Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, captain)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)
Stephen Harmison (Durham)
Monty Panesar (Northants)
Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
Liam Plunkett (Durham)
Matthew Prior (Sussex)
Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire)
Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)