Jones: Fully fit and firing for Worcestershire
Simon Jones moved a step closer to a return to international cricket after he was named in England's 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Worcestershire seamer has not played at the highest level since the fourth Ashes Test against Australia in 2005 due to a string of injuries.
Back in action and performing well for his new county, Jones has been included in the preliminary list of players to take part in the tournament in Pakistan this September.
The selectors have named five new faces, the one major surprise being Nottinghamshire seamer Darren Pattinson, who was born in Grimsby but raised Down Under.
His county colleague Samit Patel is also included for the first time, making it a total of five players from Trent Bridge alongside the more established one-day trio of Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann.
Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry, Kent off-spinning all-rounder James Tredwell, who was part of the one-day squad for the tour of New Zealand but did not play, and Durham seamer Graeme Onions are the other uncapped players.
Wicketkeepers Matt Prior and Phil Mustard, who lost his place in the one-day team to Tim Ambrose for the recent NatWest Series against the Black Caps, are both selected along with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
England will name their final 15-man squad for the competition on August 11. They kick-off their campaign against Sri Lanka in Karachi on September 14.
"Although the 30-man ICC Champions Trophy squad is extensive it contains some exceptional talent and a strong mix of youth and experience", stated National selector Geoff Miller.
"The ICC Champions Trophy will give us the chance to test our One-Day International side against the best in the world and I know the players will be looking forward to the challenge of improving our current ODI ranking.
"We will continue to monitor performance in the lead up to narrowing the squad to a final number of 15."
England's 30-man ICC Champions Trophy Squad:
Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire), Simon Jones (Worcestershire), Ed Joyce (Middlesex), Robert Key (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Phil Mustard (Durham), Graham Onions (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Darren Pattinson (Nottinghamshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Matt Prior (Sussex), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire, James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)

Strauss - Fletcher improved my game
Gilchrist to join Middlesex
Double trouble for India
South Africa A v England - Trott
Flower - Courageous Monty
Lee may consider retiring
Villiers - Win has lifted us
Arthur criticises England tactics
| Fixture |
|---|
| Sunday 22nd November |
| One Day Int Second Match |
| South Africa vs England |
| Monday 23rd November |
| Test Match First Test |
| New Zealand vs Pakistan |
| Tuesday 24th November |
| Test Match Second Test |
| India vs Sri Lanka |
| Thursday 26th November |
| Test Match First Test |
| Australia vs West Indies |
| Friday 27th November |
| One Day Int Third Match |
| South Africa vs England |
| Sunday 29th November |
| One Day Int Fourth Match |
| South Africa vs England |
| Wednesday 2nd December |
| Test Match Third Test |
| India vs Sri Lanka |
| Test Match Second Test |
| New Zealand vs Pakistan |
| Friday 4th December |
| Test Match Second Test |
| Australia vs West Indies |
| One Day Int Fifth Match |
| South Africa vs England |
| Result |
|---|
| Friday 20th November |
| One Day International Series |
| South Africa vs England No Result |
| Test Series |
| India vs Sri Lanka Match Drawn |
| Tuesday 17th November |
| Tour Match |
| South Africa A vs England England won by 4 wickets. |
| Sunday 15th November |
| International Twenty20 Match |
| South Africa vs England South Africa won by 84 runs. |
| Friday 13th November |
| International Twenty20 Match |
| South Africa vs England England won by 1 run. (Revised target - Duckworth-Lewis system) |
| International Twenty20 Series |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand Pakistan won by 7 runs. |
| Thursday 12th November |
| International Twenty20 Series |
| Pakistan vs New Zealand Pakistan won by 49 runs. |
| Women's Twenty20 International |
| West Indies Women vs England Women England Women won by 6 wickets. |
| Wednesday 11th November |
| One Day International Series |
| India vs Australia No Result |
| Tuesday 10th November |
| One Day International Series |
| South Africa vs Zimbabwe South Africa won by 212 runs. |
Expect fireworks in the International Sixes League as Graeme Smith's South Africa tackle England.
Watch the highlights from South Africa's win in the second Twenty20 International on skysports.com.
Catch up on all the latest from the Sky Sports commentary box with David Lloyd's tweetings.
England opener Alastair Cook will remain in Pretoria while the rest of the ODI squad head to Cape Town.
England have been set 251 to win at Centurion. Launch the scorecentre for text commentary, or watch LIVE on Sky Sports 2/HD2.
Neil Broom and Aaron Redmond have confessed to being charged with serious misconduct on New Zealand A's tour of India this year.
South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the ODI series against England due to a fractured rib.
James Tredwell is relishing the possibility of making his England debut at Centurion after turning down India for South Africa.
Comments (6)
Ben Naylor says...
No Joe Denly? Shame and no Hildreth.
Posted 16:02 3rd July 2008
Ian Ashworth says...
I find it absolutely astounding that David Sales isn't considered one of the best 30 limited overs players in the country. England can't find a decent squad of 14 players, yet arguably the best currentl player never to have received international recognition is overlooked in favour of flavour of the month players from Test ground counties, or players who are clearly short of the mark. Plunkett, Pattinson, Patel, Mahmood, Joyce should be nowhere near an England squad, but conveniently all play for more fashionable counties. I shouldn't be surprised though - Sales has snubbed Ashley "Being An England Selector Doesn't Conflict With Being Bears Boss, Honest" Giles' Warwickshire poaching attempt.
Posted 15:02 3rd July 2008
Adam Ray says...
Finally the selectors see the hard work and dedication Simon Jones has put in on his comeback. I just hope they pick a man of his talent for our test and ODI teams. I also like the fact they have not overlooked Matt Prior again. I think the last 15 will/should look as follows: Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Flintoff, Broad, Shah, Prior, Mustard, Tredwell, Swann, Anderson, Bopara, Wright
Posted 14:33 3rd July 2008
Jack Alletson says...
With the same old faces for ICC Champions Trophy England will get the same result as against New Zealand. They are sterile and out of step in key areas. A strong attacking opener (remember Trescothick) is an essential. Bell, Cook, Strauss are too predictable and weak in ODI's. Vaughan is so out of touch with his batting that there must be a question mark there. Ambrose should never bat below number 12, and his keeping is not much better than Prior's. Mustard can solve some of the problems. We also need RELIABLE bowlers who can bowl tight at the start and also have the nouse to bowl at the death. What a pity Gough is not 10 years younger? I would also sack the current fielding coach because the results there are abysmal. A team with Sidebottom, Peiterson, Tremlett, Panesar, and Shah is always going to leak runs. Easy to criticise who have we left. My team would be Mustard, Vaughan, Napier (Essex), Peiterson, Bopara, Collingwood, Flintoff, Mascarenha, Swann, Broad, Jones Even if they lost they would go down fighting and give the spectators some entertainment rather than make us cringe every match. Regards
Posted 13:27 3rd July 2008
David Garside says...
I think that is good squad im Dissapointed with G.Jones(kent) not being in the squad and im happy with the chance T.Bresnan(yorkshire) has been given he has been playing well for yorkshire 1st team.
Posted 13:17 3rd July 2008
Andrew Parkinson says...
So glad to see jonesy back hes been on top form for worcestershire.Ambrose has gotta go poor one day player not a bad test player but id rather matt prior brilliant batsmen needs to improve with his glove work.Good to see the selectors picking some new faces for the champions trophy hopefully they will keep them for september.COME ON ENGLAND
Posted 13:08 3rd July 2008