England pick Bresnan and Onions

Tim Bresnan's early-season fire for Yorkshire and MCC earn him the chance of an England Test debut

Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan and Durham's Graham Onions have been named in England’s 12-man squad for the first npower Test match against West Indies, which starts at Lord's next Wednesday.

Bresnan, 24, has played in five one-day internationals for England as well as a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Southampton in 2006.

Onions, 26, will be making his first appearance in an England Test squad. Both Bresnan and Onions have appeared for the England Lions.

Ravi Bopara, 24 on Monday, who scored an outstanding 104 against West Indies in Bridgetown in the last of his four tests, is chosen in the batting line-up.

National selector Geoff Miller said: “This is very exciting for the two young fast bowlers to be included in the squad for a Lord's Test match and sends a message to all county players that if they put in consistently good performances they will get recognised.

“Both have had good starts to this season and had been close to Test match selection on a number of occasions. They have earned their place in the party.

“The selectors also felt that Ravi Bopara deserved his chance after his performance in his single Test in the Caribbean this winter.

“There was a lot of competition for that batting position but Bopara now has the opportunity to stake a claim. He showed in Barbados that he has the ability to play at Test level.”

England squad for the first npower Test match against West Indies at Lord's (May 6-10):

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, captain)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ravi Bopara (Essex)
Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Graham Onions (Durham)
Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)
Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)
Matt Prior (Sussex, wkt)
Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)