Tennis: Britain recall Bailey

CHRIS BAILEY'S grass-court style has earned him a recall to the British Davis Cup squad for the Euro-African Zone relegation play-off against Romania at the Northern Club, Manchester, from 15-17 July, writes John Roberts.

Bill Knight, making his first selection since replacing Tony Pickard after the defeat in Portugal in March, did not have to search long to find the names of Jeremy Bates, Mark Petchey and Tim Henman.

Bates, the 32-year-old British No 1, has advanced to No 76 in the world after reaching the fourth round in the men's singles at Wimbledon. Petchey, ranked No 103, defeated Michael Stich in South Africa only days after the Davis Cup disappointment in Oporto.

Henman, ranked No 163, was a member of the squad in Portugal but has yet to make his debut. The 19-year-old from Oxford has made encouraging progress this year on satellite circuits in Asia.

Romania will be captained by Alexe Barden in the absence of Ilie Nastase.

GREAT BRITAIN SQUAD (with ages and world rankings): J Bates, 32 (76); M Petchey, 23 (103); T Henman, 19 (163); C Bailey, 26 (211). ROMANIA: D Pescariu, 20 (269); A Pavel, 20 (312); R Sabau, 17 (787); G Cosac, 26 (859). Reserve: C Porumb, 23 (624).