England named a 12-man squad yesterday for the second and final Test against Bangladesh starting at the Riverside on Friday after thrashing the Asian minnows by an innings and 261 runs at Lord's last week.
Only Ashley Giles, who has again been ruled out with a hip injury, is missing from the squad with Graham Thorpe now set to play his 100th Test.
Uncapped Gloucestershire seamer Jonathan Lewis retained his place in the party.
He was the only player yet to feature in international cricket also included in the 14-man One-Day squad for the triangular series with Australia and Bangladesh and England's first Twenty20 match against Australia at the Rosebowl on June 13.
The one-day squad will also take part in an additional three one-day internationals against Australia in July, although the selectors reserved the right to add extra names for that series -- such as injured Glamorgan seamer Alex Wharf (side strain).
Giles was included despite his doubtful fitness and England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "We've not included Ashley in the Test squad for Durham but we're hopeful that he will recover from injury and be available for the NatWest Series.
Meanwhile Lewis could make his international debut ahead of the Ashes Test series against Australia which starts next month.
Glamorgan seamer Simon Jones, the pick of England's attack during their Lord's victory, has also been included in the one-day squad after playing his first two matches in the limited overs format of the game against Zimbabwe last December.
On the eve of the Bangladesh series opener veteran middle order batsman Thorpe announced that he had signed a contract with New South Wales to play cricket in Australia from January which appeared to signal his intention to retire from Test cricket -- he has already bowed out of one-dayers -- after the Ashes series.
But Graveney said that the 35-year-old Surrey left-hander would be treated just like everyone else.
"There has been a lot written about Graham's decision and the selectors were disappointed with the timing," he told Sky TV.
"I'm delighted he is in the squad and plays his 100th Test match but he will know he has to maintain his form throughout the summer as all the batsmen do," Graveney said.
Among those pushing for a Test place is Kevin Pietersen, who scored three hundreds for England during the one-day series in his native South Africa last year.
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