Vaughan to lead England

Michael Vaughan will lead England when they make their World Cup assault in the Caribbean next month but Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara has edged out Mal Loye to claim his place in the 15-man squad.But Vaughan, who is struggling with a hamstring problem, will have his fitness monitored closely before the squad jets out on March 2 along with bowlers James Anderson and Jon Lewis, who have back and ankle problems respectively.Kevin Pietersen has recovered from his fractured rib to take his place among fellow batsmen Vaughan, Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, and Andrew Strauss.Anderson, Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett and Monty Panesar are the specialist bowling options with Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Dalrymple the all-rounders.Bopara beat off competition from Lancashire opener Loye because the selectors see him as a "multi-dimensional" cricketer who brings a "better balance" to the squad which includes Paul Nixon as wicket-keeper in recognition of his exploits as England recovered to win the triangular one-day international tournament Down Under.Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "The selectors were delighted with the team's outstanding performance in winning the Commonwealth Bank Series and we have retained the bulk of the squad who were in Australia for the World Cup."He continued: "This is a youthful squad with a number of highly promising players who made an excellent impression in Australia."The challenge facing the team now is to build on those performances Down Under and peak at the right time in the Caribbean."Graveney added of Bopara's inclusion at the expense of Loye: "Mal Loye can consider himself unfortunate not to be included as he made an encouraging start to his international career."We have included Ravi Bopara because we believe he is a multidimensional cricketer whose all-round talents will help give the squad a better balance."Loye is not the only member of the squad which toured Australia this winter to have missed out on a World Cup squad.Bowlers Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett have failed to make the cut while there has been no recall for veteran paceman Darren Gough.Graveney, meanwhile, has revealed that Flintoff is not guaranteed to be Vaughan's understudy as vice-captain at the World Cup.The Lancashire all-rounder led England while Vaughan has been sidelined this winter, but Graveney said: "Let's be honest - we lost 5-0 in the Test series and five of our first six one-day internationals."Andrew Flintoff deputised for Michael Vaughan in that period of time. It's only right and appropriate that he has time with his family then I'll talk to him about his views."I need to sit down and listen to him and have an honest chat about how it went in the winter. Andrew deputised in the winter and there is a process we go through."I am respecting Andrew's privacy and will have good conversation about the whole winter after that. My personal wish is that Michael gets off the plane at St Vincent to lead England."England's 15-man squad for the 2007 ICC World Cup in the West Indies reads as follows:M Vaughan (capt), J Anderson, I Bell, R Bopara, P Collingwood, J Dalrymple, A Flintoff, E Joyce, J Lewis, S Mahmood, P Nixon, M Panesar, K Pietersen, L Plunkett, A Strauss.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | February 14, 2007

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