Kabir assured of England future by David Graveney

Kabir Ali has been assured by David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, that he does have an England future, despite being overlooked for the winter tours to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Kabir was in the victorious NatWest Series squad this summer, and made his Test debut later against South Africa at Headingley, taking five wickets in the match. However, he was dropped for the final Test at The Oval and didn't make either the Test or one-day international squad to the sub-continent. "I've spoken to Kabir a lot and there are areas of his game that he needs to work on," said Graveney. "I'm sure the taste he has had with England will be the first of many, many times where he is involved."

Instead of a long hot slog in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka this winter, Kabir will have the colder comforts of Loughborough and the national academy. "I've spoken to Tom Moody [Worcestershire's director of cricket] about things and we feel that is the best course of action for him this winter," Graveney explained. "He will be involved with the academy part-time to work on those things."