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Injured Pietersen in England's Champions Trophy squad

July 24, 2009 16:58 IST

England named injured batsmen Kevin Pietersen in a preliminary 30-man squad on Friday for the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September.

The 29-year-old right-hander was ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series following an operation on his troublesome Achilles tendon injury on Wednesday, which is expected to take six weeks to heal.

Also named in the squad, led by captain Andrew Strauss, were all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who will retire from Test cricket after the final Test against Australia next month, and Durham seamer Steve Harmison.

"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," England and Wales Cricket Board selector Geoff Miller said in a statement.

Hampshire's 29-year-old left-handed batsman Michael Lumb was the only uncapped player named in the party for the eight-nation tournament which runs from September 22 to October 5.

"With the exception

of Hampshire's Michael Lumb... each member of this preliminary squad has experienced playing for England on the international stage," 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."

England said they would reduce the squad to 15 players by August 23.

The tournament, which involves 15 matches in 14 days, was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2008 but was moved to South Africa because of security concerns.

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, Luke Wright.

Source: REUTERS
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