The England selectors today announced Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad in the final 15-man squad for the forthcoming ICC World Cup hosted in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka commencing February 19.

Both Tim and Ajmal are currently in Australia playing the One Day International series against the Aussies.

England National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: "We believe we have selected an extremely exciting World Cup squad that offers balance with several options across the entire squad. With this tournament being staged on the subcontinent the conditions will require a specific style of cricket and we feel that we’ve selected a squad that can prosper in these conditions. Under the leadership of Andrew Strauss we certainly feel we have a squad that can make strong progress in this World Cup as we seek to add to the success of ICC World Twenty20 from last year."

The only slight surprise is that Ashes hero Matt Prior returns to the ODI setup at the expense of gloveman Steven Davies. Miller explains: "Matt Prior returns to the England ODI squad after a brief absence and given his recent form and his batting style, which is very well suited to the subcontinent conditions, we believe his inclusion is warranted. Due to his inclusion in this World Cup squad Matt - who is currently representing Victoria in the Australian domestic Twenty20 competition - will join up with the England squad later this week ahead of the second ODI against Australia in Hobart on Friday. Despite some strong performances both with the bat and behind the stumps by Steven Davies we feel that Matt’s game will be better suited to the conditions in Bangladesh and India, the venues staging England’s group matches."

England 15-man ICC World Cup squad

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex) (Captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex), Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex) and Michael Yardy (Sussex).

England – group B match schedule

22 February v Netherlands, VCA Stadium, Nagpur
27 February v India, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
2 March v Ireland, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
6 March v South Africa, M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
11 March v Bangladesh, ZACS, Chittagong
17 March v West Indies, M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai