Giles included in England World Cup probables

Ashley Giles, England's slow left-arm bowler, has been included in the 30-man World Cup squad after he made himself available for selection following his withdrawal from the Ashes in December. However, there is no place of Marcus Trescothick whose England career continues to hang in the balance.

After missing the Champions Trophy because of a stress-related illness, Trescothick was declared fit to play in the Ashes series. However, he returned home after less than two weeks in Australia, again citing a form of depression for his sudden departure. Despite his experience and his strong record, the selectors decided to leave him out of the World Cup.

David Graveney, the chairman of selectors said: "I live near Marcus in Bristol and have been monitoring his recovery. We decided not to consider him for World Cup selection."

Giles flew back home after the second Test at Adelaide to be with his wife, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. "Things are progressing well with Ashley and he welcomes the opportunity to be included in the squad of 30," said Graveney

Among others included are Kent's Amjad Khan, Lancashire's Mal Loye, Durham's Graham Onions and Essex's Ravinder Bopara who are yet to play a one-day game for England. Bopara, though, has replaced Kevin Pietersen for the rest of the CB series. Darren Gough, Ian Blackwell and Tim Bresnan are absent from the provisional squad following fitness assessments at the ECB National Academy.

"We are eager to ensure everyone is given every chance to prove their fitness but we are not prepared to select players for this upcoming World Cup that we anticipate will not reach a satisfactory level of fitness for what will be a gruelling tournament," Graveney said explaining why the three did not make the cut.

"We are happy with the top order of Strauss, Vaughan and Bell and we also see the injury to Kevin Pietersen, while unfortunate, as offering a great chance for Ed Joyce to stake his claim for a place in the ICC World Cup."

World Cup probables James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Glen Chapple, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Jamie Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ed Joyce, Amjad Khan, Jon Lewis, Mal Loye, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Chris Read, Owais Shah, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Michael Vaughan, Michael Yardy