Panesar out, Pietersen among Champions Trophy probables

Hampshire batsman Michael Lumb is the lone uncapped player in the list of 30, which will be pruned to 15 by August 23.

Pietersen has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing Ashes series due to an Achilles’ heel which troubled him in the first two Tests against Australia.

The maverick batsman subsequently underwent a surgery and would need at least six weeks before returning to the field.

England, however, expect him to regain fitness well ahead of Champions Trophy, scheduled in South Africa from September 22.

Panesar, no more England’s leading spinner, has been going through a bad patch that saw him losing his place in the Test squad to Graeme Swann.

National selector Geoff Miller said the emphasis was on experience as he and his colleagues sat together to pick the probables.

 “The ICC Champions Trophy is an opportunity for the England one-day side to compete for a global trophy and we are confident we have the talent to make a strong claim,” Miller said.

“We have an exciting blend of youth and experience in this preliminary squad and we’ll continue to watch the limited overs form of all players involved over the coming month.

“With the exception of Hampshire’s Michael Lumb, who has been in excellent form for his county this year, each member of this preliminary squad has experienced playing for England on the international stage,” Miller said.

“It is pleasing to see such genuine competition for places as we look to halve the squad later next month,” he added.

Squad: Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steve Davies, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Stephen Harmison, Ed Joyce, Rob Key, Michael Lumb, Sajid Mahmood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott and Luke Wright.