Strauss misses Twenty20 squad

Chris Tremlett and Sajid Mahmood return to England colours in the 30-man T20 preliminary squad – while Test captain Andrew Strauss is ‘rested’.

In Strauss’ absence, the captain for the tournament will be named at a later date – though the inclusion of Strauss’ Middlesex colleague Shaun Udal, who skippered the county to the T20 Cup last year, is intriguing.

Alongside Hampshire skipper Dimitri Mascarenhas, Udal will be a prime candidate to lead the side.

At 40, Udal is the oldest member of the party – while Warwickshire seamer Chris Woakes, who only turned 20 in March, is the youngest.

Essex skipper James Foster finally returns as one of three keepers named in the party, while  Yorkshire seamer Tim Bresnan and  Worcestershire fast bowler Kabir Ali are also recalled for the first time since the disastrous ODI series with Sri Lanka in 2006.

New faces include Kent’s Joe Denly (alongside county skipper Rob Key) and Middlesex and Ireland’s Eoin Morgan (but not, as widely predicted, Dawid Malan).

Chairman of selectors Geoff Miller said: “Andrew Strauss had an outstanding tour of the West Indies during a difficult winter. Andrew and the selectors believe his game is better suited to Test and one-day international cricket and it is for that reason he has not been selected in the preliminary 30-man squad. Andrew is focused on the Test and ODI format of the game despite not being included in the 30-man Twenty20 squad.

“The selectors have decided against naming a captain for the ICC World Twenty20 at this stage because we feel it is important to comprehensively review the recent tour of the Caribbean and seek input from all relevant parties including the incoming England team director who is yet to be appointed. Once these processes have been achieved the selectors will name England’s Twenty20 captain in due course.”

Full squad Kabir Ali (Worcestershire); James Anderson (Lancashire); Gareth Batty (Worcestershire); Ian Bell (Warwickshire); Ravi Bopara (Essex); Timothy Bresnan (Yorkshire); Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire); Paul Collingwood (Durham); Stephen Davies (Worcestershire); Joe Denly (Kent); James Foster (Essex); Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire); Stephen Harmison (Durham); Robert Key (Kent); Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire); Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire); Eoin Morgan (Middlesex); Graham Napier (Essex); Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire); Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire); Liam Plunkett (Durham); Matthew Prior (Sussex); Adil Rashid (Yorkshire); Owais Shah (Middlesex); Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire); Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire); Chris Tremlett (Hampshire); Shaun Udal (Middlesex); Chris Woakes (Warwickshire); Luke Wright (Sussex).