That the Ashes have been on England's agenda even as they went through the summer trials was not hidden. That they are hard pressed to quickly put the past behind them as far as the series against Pakistan to focus on their traditional rivals was expressed through the urgency through which they announced the Test team.
The England and Wales Cricket Board national selector, Geoff Miller, stated those intentions forthrightly while announcing the team, " We believe we’ve selected an outstanding Test squad for what will be a fiercely contested Ashes series in Australia.
“In order to retain the Ashes, we will need to play to a very high level - and we believe we’ve selected a squad to do just that. Clearly there are always difficult decisions to make when selecting an England squad, and this Ashes squad was no different.”
England are also banking on two players who would have had serious question marks. Monty Panesar's comeback was on expected lines but England have surprisingly brought in Chris Tremlett, a bowler that haven't turned to since 2007. But perhaps that decision was prompted by the injuries to Graham Onion.
Young sensation Steven Finn comes into the picture as does Steve Davies as the back up wicket keeper for Matt Prior. The rest of the team is a virtual no brainer.
England Ashes Test squad
AJ Strauss (capt), AN Cook, JM Anderson, IR Bell, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, SM Davies (wkt), ST Finn, EJG Morgan, MS Panesar, KP Pietersen, MJ Prior (wkt), GP Swann, CT Tremlett, IJL Trott
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