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England rest Anderson, Pietersen and Swann for limited overs series

December 10, 2013 16:07 IST

England have rested batsman Kevin Pietersen and bowling pair Graeme Swann and James Anderson from their limited-overs squads for the series in Australia starting next month.

Test captain Alastair Cook will lead the 16-man squad in the one-day international series, while paceman Stuart Broad will be in charge of the 15-man Twenty20 squad named on Tuesday.

England will play five ODIs and three T20 matches following the five-test Ashes series which they trail 2-0.

"This is going to be another month of tough cricket and then a heavy schedule from the West Indies tour onwards," England coach Andy Flower told reporters on Tuesday.

"Straight after the World T20, the Indian Premier League begins and while that's on, the English season starts. Our players who play all three forms cannot play 12 months a year.

"Guys like Anderson and Pietersen are in their early 30s now and they are prize assets and we need to look after them.

"From a physical perspective, they're always dealing with various niggles and sometimes they need to be taken out of competition. That is not for them just to rest, it's so we can maximise their skills when they do play."

With the Twenty20 World Cup next year followed by the 50-over World Cup in 2015, the selection will provide opportunities for youngsters to stake their claim.

"We have an important period of limited overs cricket coming up with an ICC World T20 in Bangladesh in March and we are just over a year away from the... World Cup in New Zealand and Australia," national selector Geoff Miller said in a statement.

"These two series against Australia allow valuable opportunities for players to push for places in both squads and given the rivalry between the sides both series will no doubt be keenly contested."

ODI squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell.

T20 squad: Stuart Broad (captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Luke Wright.

Source: REUTERS
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