Sport - Cricket

Vaughan in England squad

MELBOURNE: Former captain Michael Vaughan was recalled on Thursday to an England one-day squad which is missing Steve Harmison, who has decided to retire from one-day internationals.

Vaughan, recovering from long-standing knee problems, has been included in a 16-man squad to compete in the tri-nations tournament with Australia and New Zealand in January and early February .

Harmison, who had planned to retire from ODIs after the World Cup, has brought the decision forward. Geraint Jones, who was not picked for the Champions Trophy, was left out again after a disappointing showing in the opening three Ashes Tests.

``After careful consideration and having taken advice from several people who have been close to me throughout my career, I have decided to retire from one-day international cricket with immediate effect,'' said Harmison.

Difficult decision

``This has been a difficult decision but I want to play at the highest level for as long as I can and believe that concentrating solely on Test cricket is the best way forward for me during the next phase of what will hopefully be a long England career.''

The one-day squad includes left-arm spinner Monty Panesar for the first time. English selectors have also avoided a decision on the captaincy for the one-day series and will wait until Vaughan's fitness is proved by the end of the current Ashes series before making an announcement on whether Andrew Flintoff, the current captain, will continue in that role. Vaughan's inclusion is his first call-up by England since suffering a recurrence of his knee problems in India in early 2006.

The squad: James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, James Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett and Michael Vaughan. — AP

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