Strauss named captain for Lord’s

England have unveiled their 12 man squad for the first Test against the West Indies this week at Lord’s, with Andrew Strauss named skipper in the absence of Michael Vaughan.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior is set to make his Test debut with selectors pointing to his capabilities to score runs as the prime reason for his selection.

Notable absences include bowlers James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood who each had an Ashes series to forget in Australia, not long ago.

The appointment of Strauss to lead England in the first Test came as no surprise with selectors preferring to give Andrew Flintoff time to concentrate on his game and not have to worry about the pressures of the captaincy. Flintoff has fallen out of favour with English management after an indiscretion in the Caribbean during the recent World Cup saw him stripped of the vice-captaincy.

Michael Vaughan is not expected to recover in time for the first Test starting on Thursday, but is hoping to be fit for the second Test, starting on the 25th of May.

There is some good news for England however, with star batsman Kevin Pietersen overcoming a calf injury to be fit for Thursday’s match.

England XII: Andrew Strauss (cpt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior, Liam Plunkett, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Monty Panesar, Owais Shah.