Strauss covers for injured Cook

Andrew Strauss has been added to England's squad for the first NatWest ODI

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England have called up Andrew Strauss as a cover batsman for the first NatWest Series one-day international at the Riverside tomorrow.

Strauss will join the squad to face New Zealand in the first of five matches after Test opening partner Alastair Cook was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Cook first experienced in his right shoulder on the final day of the last npower Test at Trent Bridge and was unable to shrug it off in time to feature in Essex’s Twenty20 Cup opener against Surrey at the Brit Oval.

He sat out yesterday’s Twenty20 international nine-wicket victory over the Black Caps at Old Trafford.

Should Strauss feature tomorrow, it would be his first ODI since England’s final match at last year’s World Cup against host side West Indies.