Harmison omitted from England squad

Steve Harmison has not been recalled to England's squad for the second Test against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston, despite making his first-class comeback for Durham against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge last week.

Harmison flew home early from England's tour of India in March after suffering from sore shins, and he has bowled just 25 overs in two matches since then. "We monitored events at Trent Bridge very closely," said England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, "and felt that Steve needed more miles in his legs.

"He was considered for this Test match, but with these long-term injuries it is one thing to get back to fitness, it is another thing to get playing again."

Instead the selectors have named a 12-man squad, including all 11 players who contested the first match at Lord's, plus the Gloucestershire seamer, Jon Lewis. That means no place for Ian Bell, despite Edgbaston being his home ground. "As a batsman, you just want to go off and play," commented Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports News. "There's no point hanging around carrying drinks."

Lewis's retention is no surprise after the manner in which he routed the Sri Lankans in England A's match against them at Worcestershire, but he is unlikely to press for a place in the starting line-up. Graveney stressed that England's failure to finish off Sri Lanka at Lord's did not detract from some fine individual performances, with both Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood impressing on their home debuts.

Edgbaston has been encouraging spin so far this season, but England have once again opted for the solitary slow bowler in Monty Panesar, who entertained the crowd with his fielding at Lord's, but was underused by his captain, Andrew Flintoff. That means no place in the squad for the Warwickshire spinner, Alex Loudon, who had been mentioned in dispatches ahead of the selection meeting.

England squad 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff (capt), 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 Monty Panesar, 12 Jon Lewis.