Hockey: Bowden returns to international fold

Kirsty Bowden, Leicester's 23-year-old defender and England's captain in the 1998 World Cup, will make a welcome return to the international arena at February's Champions Challenge tournament in Johannesburg. It is the first time since the Sydney Olympics that she has been in the England squad, having taken time off to concentrate on her legal career.

The squad is largely experimental, with Isabel Palmer and Lisa Wooding in line for their first caps, while several senior players who are fairly certain to feature in the Commonwealth Games have been rested.

England's coach, Tricia Heberle, said: "There is no hidden agenda in my selection. I need to have the opportunity of seeing fringe players in a major tournament. Although success in the Champions Challenge offers us an opportunity to compete in the Champions Trophy in 2002, a more important priority is to assess and develop our players leading up to the Commonwealth Games selection in May." The Champions Challenge from 9-17 February is still scheduled to be a six nations' tournament with Japan due to replace Germany who have withdrawn.

ENGLAND SQUAD (Champions Challenge, Johannesburg, 9-17 Feb): S Blanks, J Bimson, H Richardson, K Bowden (all Fyffes Leicester), H Rose (Bury St Edmunds), K Roberts, L Wooding (both Chelmsford), K Walsh, J Smith (both Slough), A Bennett, M Clewlow, F Houslop (all Canterbury), L King (Ipswich), H Grant, L Wright (both Olton & West Warwick), I Palmer, D Marston-Smith (both Clifton), A Danson (Trojans).