Kevin Pietersen returns to one-day squad
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Your support makes all the difference.England predictably recalled Kevin Pietersen to their final one-day international and Twenty20 squads before next year's World Cup.
England predictably recalled Kevin Pietersen to their final one-day international and Twenty20 squads before next year's World Cup.
Pietersen, left out of the squad which beat Pakistan in September because of a loss of form, seemed a certainty to return - especially after his career-best 227 in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
He was duly named among a 17-man party to take on Australia in two Twenty20s and seven ODIs next month.
The squad also includes England Performance Programme graduate Chris Woakes alongside Ashes hopeful Chris Tremlett in a five-strong seam attack in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad.
Steve Davies retains his place as 50-over wicketkeeper, with Craig Kieswetter still under Twenty20 consideration only, and no return yet for Matt Prior - England's Test choice and someone who still wants to play in all international formats.
Andrew Strauss will captain the ODI team but is no longer involved in Twenty20s, leaving Paul Collingwood to lead the world champions.
National selector Geoff Miller said: "While our focus is currently on retaining the Ashes in Australia, we are excited by the prospect of taking on Australia in the limited-overs format, because they are among the best in the world in the shorter form of the game.
"We believe we've picked a well-balanced squad to cover both the two Twenty20 matches and the seven-match ODI series.
"This series will be the ideal lead-up to the ICC World Cup, which immediately follows the tour of Australia."
England are due to name a provisional 30-man World Cup squad on December 19, pared down to 15 a month later for a tournament which begins on the sub-continent on February 19.
Broad, who faces a tight schedule to recover from his abdominal injury in time, is sure to be in the initial World Cup squad at least.
In the shorter term, Broad's absence presents an opportunity for uncapped Warwickshire seamer Woakes.
Miller added: "With Stuart Broad ruled out of the series, we've needed to bolster our pace bowling stocks - and Chris Woakes comes into the squad after knocking on the door for some time.
"Chris will be hungry for his international debut and vying for a place with a number of other quality pace bowlers."
England see their assignments against Australia as an ideal stepping stone to trying to win the World Cup for the first time.
"To pit yourself against the number one ranked ODI side in the world over a seven-match series is the perfect preparation for a World Cup," said Miller.
"We'll be looking to continue the recent run of results the ODI squad has enjoyed over the past 18 months."
England T20 and ODI squad: AJ Strauss (ODI captain, ODI squad only), PD Collingwood (T20 captain), JM Anderson, IR Bell, TT Bresnan, SM Davies, EJG Morgan, C Kieswetter (T20 squad only), KP Pietersen, A Shahzad, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, CT Tremlett, IJL Trott, CM Woakes, LJ Wright, MH Yardy.
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