England’s Graeme Swann will miss the final two matches in the one-day series against Australia, allowing him to rest his sore bowling arm, national selector Geoff Miller said Thursday.
Swann, a mainstay of the England side in all three international formats, will be replaced by fellow off-spinner James Tredwell in the squad for the concluding fixtures of a five-match series against Australia at Chester-le-Street and Manchester on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.
England have also called up seamer Chris Waokes, drafted in for Wednesday’s abandoned match against Australia at his Edgbaston home ground, where rain meant not one ball was bowled, while Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker attended the funeral of their former Surrey team-mate Tom Maynard.
Dernbach will be unavailable for the final two matches as well because of a side strain. Miller said team management had always intended to give Swann a break after the Edgbaston match, where the wash-out left England 2-0 up with two to play in a NatWest series they had to win 5-0 to replace Australia at the top of the one-day international rankings.
Former England off-spinner Miller added the decision had been made with a view to Swann being fit for the upcoming three-Test series with South Africa, where England will put their world number one status on the line.
“We had earmarked the fourth and fifth matches in this series as an opportunity to rest Graeme, regardless of the result at Edgbaston, because we have to consider our preparations for the Investec Test series later this month,” Miller said in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement.
“Graeme has some pain in his elbow at the moment and we feel that an extra week’s rest will allow his elbow to settle. “Chris Woakes replaces Jade Dernbach, who has been ruled out with a side strain.” All-rounder Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) and batsman Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) have been released for the Twenty20 match between their respective counties later Thursday.
Bairstow will also be available for Yorkshire’s ‘Roses’ clash away to arch-rivals Lancashire at Old Trafford on Friday and he and Patel will rejoin England in time for Saturday’s fourth one-day international.
Revised England squad
Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson, James Tredwell, Samit Patel, Chris Woakes, Jonathan Bairstow
Remaining Fixtures
Jul 07: 4th ODI v Australia, Chester-le-Street (0945GMT)
Jul 10: 5th ODI v Australia, Manchester (1300GMT)
