Strauss out of World Twenty20 squad

(GETTY IMAGES)

England captain Andrew Strauss has been left out of his country's squad for cricket's World Twenty20.

The 32-year-old Strauss was omitted from the provisional 30-man squad announced today, giving him no chance of making a final 15-man lineup for the June tournament.

Strauss will continue as Test and one-day captain, but the England and Wales Cricket Board will announce a leader for the Twenty20 closer to the tournament.

"Andrew and the selectors believe his game is better suited to test and one-day international cricket and it is for that reason he has not been selected," England selector Geoff Miller said. "Andrew is focused on the test and ODI format of the game despite not being included in the 30-man Twenty20 squad."

With Strauss left out because of his leisurely pace at the crease, Kent batsman Robert Key is a contender to be captain. Allrounder Andrew Flintoff and former test captain Kevin Pietersen are in but unlikely to be seriously considered.

Flintoff's game suffered during a short spell as captain that included a 5-0 Ashes loss to Australia, while Pietersen lost the role this year after falling out with then-coach Peter Moores.

The squad is mostly an experienced one, but contains four players yet to play for England. Kent batsman Joe Denly, Essex allrounder Graham Napier and Yorkshire spinner Adil Rashid were joined by Eion Morgan, who has played 22 one-day internationals for Ireland.

Samit Patel has also been included in the squad despite being left out of the Twenty20 and one-day matches in the West Indies after failing to "reach acceptable standards of fitness for international cricket".

England squad for ICC World Twenty20, June 5-21:

Kabir Ali (Worcestershire); James Anderson (Lancashire); Gareth Batty (Worcestershire); Ian Bell (Warwickshire); Ravi Bopara (Essex); Timothy Bresnan (Yorkshire); Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire); Paul Collingwood (Durham); Stephen Davies (Worcestershire); Joe Denly (Kent); James Foster (Essex); Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire); Stephen Harmison (Durham); Robert Key (Kent); Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire); Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire); Eoin Morgan (Middlesex); Graham Napier (Essex); Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire); Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire); Liam Plunkett (Durham); Matthew Prior (Sussex); Adil Rashid (Yorkshire); Owais Shah (Middlesex); Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire); Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire); Chris Tremlett (Hampshire); Shaun Udal (Middlesex); Chris Woakes (Warwickshire); Luke Wright (Sussex).