England send for Batty

Gareth Batty, the Worcestershire offspinner, has been added to the England squad for the third npower Test against West Indies at Old Trafford, which starts on Thursday (August 12).

Batty, 26, played in five Tests last winter, taking 10 wickets at 68.90, but has yet to feature in a home game. But he has been in good form this season, having taken 41 first-class wickets at 26.21. Only last week he scored his maiden hundred, with 133 against his former county Surrey.

The rest of the squad is unchanged from the players who clinched the retention of the Wisden Trophy with a second convincing win of the series at Edgbaston. Simon Jones, 12th man there, could come back in at Old Trafford, which may offer more opportunities for reverse-swing, although the Lancashire faithful will be upset if his return is at the expense of local boy James Anderson, who played in the second Test.

There is still no return for Mark Butcher, whose continued injury problems kept him out of the Twenty20 finals at Edgbaston yesterday. David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, explained: "As far as Mark Butcher is concerned, the selectors have decided that, as he ruled himself out of the Twenty20 Cup finals day on Saturday, he is not yet in a position to play a five-day Test match and so he has not been selected for this squad."

And Graveney expanded on the call for Batty: "We have picked him to give us cover and as an extra spinning option as recent matches at Old Trafford have indicated that the pitch may be responsive to spin. Obviously we will need to look at the wicket before we make a decision on the final eleven."

England squad for third Test
Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Robert Key, Michael Vaughan (capt), Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Gareth Batty, Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.