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Vaughan and Harmison Not Picked
Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison have been left out of the England Ashes training party. This could mean that the pair will not be picked to face Australia.
The pair have been left from the 16 man squad for the three day warm up game. The game is against Warwickshire and hints that this could be the end of the road for the pair.
Country favourite Andrew Flintoff will be in the line up after proving himself with Lancashire. The first of the Ashes will take place a t Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on 8th July.
2005’s Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan has lost out to some tough competition. Ian Bell is taking his place to bid to challenge Ravi Bopara for the number three spot.
All three spinners: Monty Panesar, Graeme Rashid and Adil Rashid have been given the chance to prove themselves. National selector Geoff Miller said:
"Michael Vaughan will, of course, be disappointed not to have been included. But I met with Michael recently and he understands that he needs to make runs consistently in County cricket if he is to force his way back into the squad.
"The door has not been closed on any player at this stage."
Vaughan has had a disappointing season so far with only 159 first class runs at an average of 19.88 in six matches this summer. He had a top score of 43 against Worcestershire last week and this was his best yet.
Vaughan has also struggled with an injury recurring in his right knee. This sidelined him for over a year and forced him to miss the recent championship match with Somerset.
However Harmison should consider himself unlucky to have been excluded from the training. The Durham bowler has been included in the England Lions line-up to face Australia ina four day match starting 1st July.
Miller added: "We are keen to make the match at Worcester a tough one for Australia and plan to give all the players in the Lions team the maximum opportunity to press their case for selection.
"As a consequence, we will now be announcing our squad for the first Ashes Test on Sunday, 5 July - 24 hours later than originally planned."
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