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Hoggard back in England squad against NZ
London—Matthew Hoggard was recalled to the England
squad for the opening test against New Zealand starting at Lord’s on
Thursday.
The Yorkshire swing bowler was dropped during England’s 2-1 series
victory in New Zealand, but had returned to form this season and is
named in a squad of 12 for the first two of three tests against the
Black Caps. The second is at Old Trafford starting May 23.
Hoggard is one of five specialist bowlers in the lineup Stuart
Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson and spinner Monty Panesar
being the others and one is almost certain to be left out.
“It’s a headache for the selectors and I think it’s good for English
cricket that there are lot of people vying for not so many places,”
Hoggard said Sunday.
Paul Collingwood was also included despite poor form with the bat
and a right shoulder injury. The team will be led by Michael
Vaughan, who has also failed to make a half century so far this
season.
“Despite being faced with some injury concerns, we’ve named what we
think is an extremely strong England test squad,” national selector
Geoff Miller said.
“Paul Collingwood received treatment to his right shoulder on Friday
and we now need to see how he responds to that treatment before we
have a definitive idea of his availability for the first test. At
this stage it’s too early to say whether he will definitely play as
he will be reassessed in the lead-up to Thursday.”
Andrew Flintoff was ruled out because of a side strain and there was
no place in the bowling attack for Steve Harmison, whose form had
been poor since a strong performance in the 2005 Ashes series win
over Australia.
“Andrew Flintoff was obviously unavailable for selection, which is a
shame for Andrew and for England, but I know he’ll continue to work
hard with the Lancashire medical team and be back in contention in
due course,” Miller said.
The third test is at Trent Bridge on June 5-9.
Squad: Michael Vaughan (captain), Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook,
Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart
Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Matthew
Hoggard.—AFP
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