LONDON, 20 September 2005 — Fast bowler Simon Jones was named yesterday in England’s squad to tour Pakistan next month subject to a fitness Test on his injured right ankle.
Jones topped the England bowling averages with 18 wickets at 21 runs each in the 2-1 series victory over world number one side Australia this year.
Hampshire off spinner Shaun Udal, 36, has also been selected in a 17-man squad for the three-Test series, replacing Gareth Batty as the backup to Ashley Giles.
Chairman of selectors David Graveney told a news conference that Udal, who has played 10 one-day internationals without winning a Test cap, had won a place on merit.
“In choosing our Test squad the area that involved the most discussion was the choice of spin bowlers,” Graveney said. “Udal is a guy who has been involved in county cricket for a long time.
“Spinners can play at that sort of age and statistics will show that Udal is by far the performance bowler at the present time which is why we want him to go.” Graveney said the performances in county cricket of the other candidates, who included Batty, Graeme Swann and Richard Dawson, had been disappointing.
“They will be disappointed, we are disappointed,” he said.
Warwickshire all rounder Alex Loudon, who has attracted attention this season with his ability to bowl the doosra, a leg spinner bowled with an off spin action, was a surprise selection in the Test squad.
Test squad — Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Alex Loudon, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Shaun Udal
One-day squad — Vaughan (captain), Anderson, Collingwood, Flintoff, Giles, Harmison, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Pietersen, Prior, Liam Plunkett, Vikram Solanki, Strauss, Tremlett, Trescothick.
