By IANS,
London : Injured Kevin Pietersen has been named Friday in England’s 30-man preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa in September.
The 29-year-old underwent a surgery on his achilles tendon a few days ago and cannot be rushed, but England selectors hoped that the former England captain will be able to compete in the tournament.
The squad will be pruned to 15 by Aug 23, and that will give Pietersen a little more than four weeks’ time to prove his fitness.
The announcement follows concerns expressed by the head of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, Sean Morris, that players will increasingly be forced to pick and choose their international commitments.
Pietersen has already been ruled out of the Ashes – with the final Test due to begin Aug 20 – and he is considered doubtful for the subsequent one-day series.
Even if England are confident enough in Pietersen’s recovery to include him in their final 15, Pietersen will have little opportunity to regain form ahead of England’s opening Champions Trophy fixture against Sri Lanka September.
Three wicketkeepers Matt Prior, James Foster and Steve Davies are included, while Steve Harmison, who came out of one-day international retirement last summer, is also among prelims.
“We have an exciting blend of youth and experience in this preliminary squad and we’ll continue to watch the limited overs form of all players involved over the coming month,” said national selector, Geoff Miller. “It is pleasing to see such genuine competition for places as we look to half the squad later next month,” he said.
Preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy:
Andrew Strauss; James Anderson; Gareth Batty; Ian Bell; Ravi Bopara; Tim Bresnan; Stuart Broad; Paul Collingwood; Alastair Cook; Steve Davies; Joe Denly; Andrew Flintoff; James Foster; Stephen Harmison; Ed Joyce; Rob Key; Michael Lumb; Sajid Mahmood; Dimitri Mascarenhas; Eoin Morgan; Graham Napier; Graham Onions; Kevin Pietersen ; Matt Prior; Adil Rashid; Owais Shah; Ryan Sidebottom; Graeme Swann; Jonathan Trott; Luke Wright.