England risk giving Kevin Pietersen a trophy call

Tom Collomosse
24.07.09

Kevin Pietersen has been included in England's initial 30-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in September, despite being ruled out of the rest of the Ashes with an Achilles injury.

With the tournament in South Africa running from 24 September until 5 October, Pietersen - who is expected to need at least a six-week lay-off after undergoing surgery this week - faces a race against time to regain full fitness.

Andrew Flintoff, who will retire from Test cricket at the end of this Ashes series, has also been named along with uncapped Hampshire batsman Michael Lumb.

Andrew Strauss will lead the squad, which will be trimmed to 15 players on 23 August.

Squad: A Strauss (Middlesex), J Anderson (Lancashire), G Batty (Worcestershire), I Bell (Warwickshire), R Bopara (Essex), T Bresnan (Yorkshire), S Broad (Nottinghamshire), P Collingwood (Durham), A Cook (Essex), S Davies (Worcestershire), J Denly (Kent), A Flintoff (Lancashire), J Foster (Essex), S Harmison (Durham), E Joyce (Sussex), R Key (Kent), M Lumb (Hampshire), S Mahmood (Lancashire), D Mascarenhas (Hampshire), E Morgan (Middlesex), G Napier (Essex), G Onions (Durham), K Pietersen (Hampshire), M Prior (Sussex), A Rashid (Yorkshire), O Shah (Middlesex), R Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), G Swann (Nottinghamshire), J Trott (Warwickshire), L Wright (Sussex).