Malan the man for England

Middlesex's Dawid Malan is in England's Performance Programme Squad, but there is no place for James Foster.

Experienced trio of Key, Mahmood and Plunkett also included

Middlesex's Dawid Malan has been named in England's 15-man Performance Programme Squad, but there is no place for James Foster. Crusaders' batsman Malan shot to prominence in the domestic game this summer in the Twenty20 Cup, helping his county lift the title. He is joined in the 15-man party to travel to India by county colleague Eoin Morgan, who played for Ireland at last year's World Cup in the Caribbean. However, Essex wicketkeeper Foster - tipped by some to be named in the full squad - has been overlooked in favour of Worcestershire's Steven Davies. Adil Rashid, another player considered in the reckoning for the two-Test series in India, is one of two spinners included, the other being Sussex's Ollie Rayner.

Kent quartet

Kent have a total of four players; captain Rob Key being joined by his opening partner Joe Denly and pace pair pair Amjad Khan, who was born in Denmark, and Robbie Joseph, brought up in Antigua. Like batsman Key, Lancashire's Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett of Durham have both previously played Test cricket. There are also several with one-day experience, not least Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan, who is on stand-by for the Stanford Super Series. As well as Malan, who was born in Surrey but previously played for Boland, there are two other South African-raised players in the party - Warwickshire batsman Jonathan Trott and Worcestershire opener Stephen Moore. ECB Performance Director, David Parsons, said: "This winter's programme, both at the National Cricket Performance Centre and on tour in India, is designed to help us identify those players who can perform successfully for England at international level. "Touring India will provide the players with an opportunity to learn more about the challenges of playing on the sub-continent as well as providing our Test and One-Day squads with stand-by players in case of injury." England Performance Programme Squad:
Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Mark Davies (Durham), Steven Davies (Worcestershire), Joe Denly (Kent), Robbie Joseph (Kent), Robert Key (Kent), Amjad Khan (Kent), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Stephen Moore (Worcestershire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ollie Rayner (Sussex), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)