ECB announces 25-man development squad

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced a 25-man England Development Squad (EDS) for this summer's international season. The squad consists of 12 players on national contract and 13 non-contracted players, chosen by the England selectors.

Rikki Clarke, Ed Joyce, Stuart Broad, Jon Lewis and Chris Read, who represented England A v Sri Lanka earlier this month, are among the new entrants in the squad.

"The squad essentially enables the England Head Coach (Duncan Fletcher) working with his support staff and the National Academy staff to monitor more closely the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game," David Graveney, chairman of selectors, was quoted in a press release.

Considering the talent available it was inevitable that a lot of deserving candidates were left out of the squad. "All the selectors are unanimous that the Development Squad must not be viewed as a 'closed shop' and players outside of the squad whose form merits the attention of the selectors will continue to be considered for England in the usual way," Graveney said.

Squad Michael Vaughan, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ian Blackwell, Stuart Broad , Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Alex Loudon , Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Owais Shah , Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick