Trott And Bell In England Performance Squad

21/04/2010
International Cricket

Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott pose with the Ashes

Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell have been named in England’s 27-man Performance Squad for this summer’s international season.

The England Performance Squad (EPS) was announced yesterday by the ECB and consists of 11 players currently on 12-month central contracts, one of which is the 28-year-old Bell.

Trott is one of seven players awarded an ECB incremental contract, whilst the squad also contains one player – Hampshire’s Michael Lumb, a member of England’s squad for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean – not yet capped at international level.

ECB National Selector Geoff Miller said: “The England Performance Squad is designed to allow the selectors to monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game.

“The selectors can name up to 30 players in the EPS, but we have decided to keep three places vacant at present in order to give ourselves greater flexibility and we will reserve the right to add further players to the squad if their performances in domestic cricket merit it.

"We were delighted with the progress made by several younger players such as Craig Kieswetter, Steven Finn and Ajmal Shazad over the winter with either the England team or the England Lions squad and their selections in the EPS reflect this.

"James Tredwell and Michael Carberry have previously experienced the England set-up after making an impact at international level during the winter and similarly Joe Denly and Liam Plunkett firmly remain in our plans over the course of the summer. From a limited-overs perspective, Michael Lumb and Michael Yardy have already been included in England's ICC World T20 squad for the forthcoming tournament in the Caribbean."

England Performance Squad 2010:

James Anderson (Lancashire) *

Ian Bell (Warwickshire) *

Ravi Bopara (Essex) +

Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire) +

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire) *

Michael Carberry (Hampshire)

Paul Collingwood (Durham) *

Alastair Cook (Essex) *

Joe Denly (Kent)

Steven Finn (Middlesex)

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset)