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England drop out-of-form Strauss for tour of Sri Lanka

England opener Andrew Strauss has been dropped for his country's forthcoming cricket tour of Sri Lanka.

Strauss was missing from the 15-man England squad named on Friday after a disappointing run of form, which saw him average just 27 over the last year.

The Middlesex batsman had been awarded a central contract recently but that was not enough to save his place in Michael Vaughan's side for the three-Test series in December.

There was no place for Mark Ramprakash even though the Surrey batsman has averaged more than 100 in county cricket for the last two seasons.

Four uncapped players, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Phil Mustard and Graeme Swann, are included, while Steve Harmison will feature if he proves his fitness in a short stint in South African domestic cricket next month.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney insisted the door was not totally closed for Strauss.

"Andrew Strauss needs to recover his best form and he has not been included in the squad on this occasion," Graveney said.

"He's extremely disappointed, understandably, and it would be strange if he wasn't. But he's a fighter and we believe he will come back into the frame very quickly," he said.

"We fully anticipate that he will have a major role to play with England in the next 12 months and he will be considered for the tour of New Zealand in the new year," Graveney said.

Ramprakash had been tipped to return to the England set-up after a long exile and Graveney said he had decided to personally inform the player of his decision because it was such a close call.

"Ramprakash was considered at length, and it was a close call. He was extremely disappointed but these are the calls that have to be made," Graveney said. "His exclusion warranted an explanation which we gave to him last night."

Graveney is confident Owais Shah will be able to recapture his recent impressive one-day form, while Bopara deputizes for Andrew Flintoff as the all-rounder recovers from ankle surgery.

"Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara are both fine players of spin-bowling, and their performances for the one-day side recently have demonstrated that they have the temperament required to succeed at the highest level," Graveney said.

? England squad for Test series in Sri Lanka:

Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Notts), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Philip Mustard (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northants), Kevin Pietersen (Hants), Matt Prior (Sussex), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Notts), Graeme Swann (Notts)
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