Moores backs Bresnan return

Tim Bresnan's England recall comes on the back of fine domestic form this season

Coach Peter Moores is banking on Tim Bresnan to return as a player better suited to international cricket if he is given another chance by England in the NatWest Series against South Africa.

The 23-year-old Yorkshire all-rounder has been called into England’s one-day squad as cover after injuries to Ryan Sidebottom (hip) and Chris Tremlett (heel) ruled them out of today’s one-day international against Scotland and Wednesday’s Twenty20 international at Chester-le-Street.

It is a welcome call-up for a player who has impressed at county level this season, two years after his last international spell ended with four difficult appearances against Sri Lanka during a 5-0 whitewash for the tourists.

“He’s a bit older and wiser and he’s probably gained an extra yard of pace, which he probably needed internationally,” Moores said.

“He’s done very well this year and he’s pretty much a three-dimensional player because he bats, bowls and fields.

“It’s exciting for him to get another chance and he’ll have learned a lot from those games he played against Sri Lanka so his challenge is to use that knowledge he’s got from county cricket over the last two years and try and make a real impression.

“He’s very much a viable option for selection - we wouldn’t have called him into the squad otherwise - and it gives us options because he’s another bowler who bats a bit.”

During his last incarnation as an England player, Bresnan averaged just 17 with the bat from four innings and had an economy rate of 6.76 per over - including conceding 29 runs in only two overs in his previous appearance at Headingley Carnegie.

But his improved form for Yorkshire has earned a recall ahead of more experienced players like Dimitri Mascarenhas and gives him the chance to impress with Sidebottom missing the Twenty20 international and Tremlett out for around 10-12 days.

Scotland are hoping today’s match can prove to the world they have improved as a cricket nation by putting on a show against England’s team of superstars in front of a near-capacity 6,000 crowd at the Grange.

“It might be (Andrew) Flintoff bowling the ball or (Kevin) Pietersen holding the bat but it’s just another game of cricket,” stressed middle-order batsman Neil McCallum.

“There’ll be certain challenges throughout the day but I think we’ve got a good enough squad to rise to the occasion.

“Individuals have done it in the past, we’ve just got to do it collectively.”