Age: 36
Team:Surrey
Style: Right hand bat; Wicketkeeper
Bristles with aggression as an opening batsman and a much improved wicketkeeper but suffered a disappointing Carlton & United series in Australia, failing to score a single half-century in 11 innings and captaining a side that fell away badly towards the end of a long tour.
An elegant timer of the ball, ideally suited to capitalise on the field restrictions of the early overs. Can drive, pull and cut with equal efficiency.
Worked hard to overcome limitations keeping wicket to
the spinners; standing back now as good as anyone in the world.
Tactically, yet to convince the doubters and occasionally
excessively diplomatic. Only Englishman with 100 one-day international caps to his name.
Age: 35
Team: Middlesex
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm medium-fast
Once again the selectors could not resist bringing back Mr Line and Length himself. Overlooked for the C&U series Down Under but another who, it is hoped, will come into his own on early season pitches.
Does not hit the bat as hard as he used to but is still one of the only English bowlers who knows how to use the seam of a cricket ball effectively. Lumbers in to the wicket and nags away on an off stump line. Excellent
economy rate in the one-day game.
Cannot be counted on to score runs and, by modern standards, a camel in the field.
Age: 28
Team: Glamorgan
Style: Right hand bat; Off spin
The first choice off spinner in England but his reputation in both Test and one-day cricket has waned somewhat
recently.
A natural line of delivery that started outside off stump has now drifted towards middle, and by bowling at
greater speed, has become increasingly difficult for batsmen to score off.
Doubts remain. As Pakistan's Ijaz Ahmad showed during his century against England in the Sharjah tournament, Croft can be cannon-fodder for powerful batsmen on flat
wickets.
Has worked tireless to improve his batting with good results. Must work on fielding which often lets him down. Flies the flag for Wales.
Age: 29
Teams: Warwickshire, Essex
Style: Left hand bat; Right arm medium
Went to Australia with an average of 47.32 but only once went past 50 in 12 C&U innings. Talented enough, however, for that to be only a temporary blip on what was developing into a brilliant one-day international record.
Being left-handed and such a clean striker of the ball, Knight makes an ideal opening partner for Alec Stewart.
Not afraid to give the fast bowlers the charge. When both openers fire, England are capable of matching the Sri Lankans for entertainment.
Made an instant impact with two centuries over a weekend against Pakistan in only his second and third
one-day matches for England.
A wonderful fielder anywhere, is likely to be used as a sweeper on the leg-side boundary.
Age: 35
Team: Lancashire
Style: Left hand bat
In his prime one of the most productive one-day batsmen in the world. Now past that peak he remains an energetic accumulator of runs, and an effective
improviser against all bowling.
Proved his worth in the C&U series with three half-centuries, scoring his runs at an average of 64.60.
Once renowned for an ability to take the sharpest of singles, has suffered recently from injuries. There must be doubts whether his 35-year-old hamstrings are up to another World Cup.
As he showed throughout the 1992 tournament where he averaged almost 60, he is a proven match-winner.
Age: 31
Team: Essex
Style: Right hand bat
Many believed he should have been in England's original 15, but was only included when Mike Atherton was
forced to withdraw after his back played up once too often.
Had a respectable C&U series with two half-centuries, but was blamed by many for giving his wicket away when well set in the first final against Australia. England
duly capitulated in a match they seemingly had won.
His initial omission was seen as a snub to a senior England player - the vice-captain no less - and he reacted angrily over the phone when chairman of selectors David Graveney told him he had not been included.
Not blessed with world class players, England can hardly afford to overlook a world class fieldsman - which is what Hussain is when he prowls the backward point position.
Age: 29
Team: Kent
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm medium-fast
England's Mr Dependable. A solid performer with a good cricket brain and more than just a bits and pieces
player.
A regular member of the England side in the C&U series, he held his own with the bat and did everything that was expected of him with the ball, including a career-best five for 32 against Sri Lanka in Perth.
Capable of destructive batting - he holds the record for the fastest Sunday League century (44 balls) - and steady bowling, delivered at a brisk medium pace from an angled approach to the crease. What you see is what you get.
Age: 21
Team: Lancashire
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm medium
The surprise of the squad and the only player under 27; had not played a single one-day international when selected. Impressed everyone with his allround demeanour in Sharjah.
At 6ft 5in and almost 18 stone is a batsman of explosivecapabilities, although his sheer strength and size often
detract from his ability to play impeccably straight. Last
season hit 38 in one over off Alex Tudor and, against England's bowlers in a warm-up match before the Sharjah tournament, hit a blazing 112 from just 67 balls.
Benefited from not making the senior trip to Australia, enjoying instead a hugely successful England A tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa where he scored 542 runs at an average of 77.42.
Selectors are satisfied that he has recovered sufficiently from severe lower back trouble to be trusted to bowl his
full quota of overs. Safe pair of hands anywhere and a bullet-like throw from the boundary.
Age: 29
Teams: Leicestershire, Hampshire, Western Australia
Style: Right hand bat; Left arm medium-fast
Developed beyond recognition in Australia where England finally uncovered a genuine new ball partner for Darren Gough, and a left-armer at that.
Can seam the ball back in to, as well as move it across, right-handed batsmen and, occasionally, can swing it both ways. A changed bowler from a year ago after
building up his chest muscles weight-lifting two winters
ago.
Form in the C&U series particularly impressive, with a best of 4-18 against Australia. Tellingly, had the best economy rate of England's regular bowlers. Must now work on his batting.
Age: 32
Team: Lancashire
Style: Left-hand bat; Right arm medium
Another in the line of "bits and pieces" cricketers England have a habit of producing. For years regarded as no more than a county cricketer, has been given his chance, though arguably past his best.
Not quite of the build of the classic sportsman, hustles to the wicket and bowls at medium pace just short of a
length aiming to restrict rather than remove batsmen.
An inelegant left-handed swiper with the bat.
Used to winning one-day trophies with Lancashire and an unexpected choice as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Age: 27
Team: Surrey
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm medium
The fizz may have disappeared from Hollioake's game - hopefully only temporarily - but he still has plenty to offer.
Capable of match-winning innings with the bat, he is also an intelligent medium-pace bowler, using subtle changes
of pace to deceive batsman. His grip for the slower ball was developed from baseball.
Only a year ago was captain of the England one-day side, winning his first five games in charge, including the
Sharjah tournament. But a run of defeats in the Caribbean saw him fall from favour. Young and popular, his star may rise again.
Age: 29
Team: Surrey
Style: Left hand bat; Right arm medium
The most consistent batsman in the side and the ideal man to come in and increase the tempo in the middle stages of a one-day innings.
A free scoring player at the best of times, one of the few who does not need to change his game between Tests and limited-overs matches. Benefits from being left-handed where he uses the angle of delivery to nudge and nurdle runs into the gaps. As much an accumulator of twos as he is striker of boundaries.
His average in both versions of the game has hovered around the 40-mark for some time, though is yet to score a one-day hundred. Will only be effective if he has fully recovered from the chronic back condition. A player the selectors feel they cannot do without.
Age: 28
Team: Yorkshire
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm fast
Has come into his own over the past two years. Confirmed himself as a world class bowler in Australia where he was the leading wicket-taker in both the Test matches and one-day internationals.
One of the first names on the team sheet, possesses infectious enthusiasm and unwavering self-belief. Not one to drop his head when things go wrong.
Consistently the quickest of all England's bowlers. Has honed an inswinging yorker feared by batsman the world over. But for a frustrating series of injuries, has not looked back since taking a wicket with his fifth ball in Test cricket.
Has fallen away disappointingly with the bat, however.
Age: 32
Teams: Worcestershire, Queensland, Auckland,
Northern Districts
Style: Right hand bat; Off spin
The jewel in England's one-day crown - or at least he should be. Three centuries in four innings in the C&U series set England up for the final. A total of four runs in three of his later innings coincided with their disappointing end.
That inconsistency has given him the reputation of being an enigma: the scorer of 100 first-class centuries, but a
character prone to intimidation at the crease. He is, though, a freer scorer in the one-day game where bouncers are not permitted.
Potentially the most destructive batsman in England, noted for his booming drives off both spin and pace.
In theory a more than useful off spinner. In reality took only 19 wickets in his first 87 one-day internationals and did not bowl in the C&U series. A brilliant fielder at slip and on the deep cover boundary.
Age: 33
Teams: Leicestershire, Kent
Style: Right hand bat; Right arm medium; Wicketkeeper
Has been rewarded for encouraging performances in Australia where he did not look out of his depth. A versatile cricketer, he can open the innings or come in with quick runs needed at the death. Can also be trusted in almost any situation with the ball.
Took his wickets at under 20 in the C&U series but struggled to score quickly enough with the bat. Must look to be more aggressive.
Unlucky perhaps not to have been given his chance before now after years of turning heads on the county circuit. Had better make the most of the experience. At
33 is living on borrowed time. Serves as the emergency wicketkeeper.
