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London: Fast bowler Simon Jones was named on Monday in England’s squad for the Pakistan tour next month, subject to a fitness test on his injured right ankle.
Jones topped the England bowling averages with 18 wickets at 21 runs each in the 2-1 series victory over Australia.
Hampshire off-spinner Shaun Udal, 36, has also been selected in the 17-man squad for the three-Test series, replacing Gareth Batty as the backup for Ashley Giles.
Selector’s Chairman David Graveney said in a news conference that Udal, who has played 10 one-day Internationals without winning a Test cap, had won a place on merit.
“In choosing our Test squad the area that involved the most discussion was the choice of spin bowlers,” Graveney said. “Udal is a guy who has been involved in county cricket for a long time.
“Spinners can play at that sort of age and statistics will show that Udal is by far the best performing bowler at the present time, which is why we want him to go.”
Graveney said Jones’ new found ability to reverse swing would be an asset on Pakistan’s abrasive pitches where the shine is quickly stripped from the ball.
Jones missed the final Test at the Oval because of a bone spur which may eventually require surgery and he has been resting since.
Darren Gough, who still hopes to be part of England’s team at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, was left out of the one-day squad at his own request.
“Darren would like to make it clear that he has not decided to retire from one-day International cricket and the selectors fully understand his reasons,” Graveney said.
Test squad
Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Alex Loudon, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Shaun Udal
ODI squad
Vaughan (captain), Anderson, Collingwood, Flintoff, Giles, Harmison, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Pietersen, Prior, Liam Plunkett, Vikram Solanki, Strauss, Tremlett, Trescothick | 
