England call up Bresnan for first Test against India

Finn is surprisingly left out as selectors persist with Broad in a 12-man squad for the first Test at Lord's.

A young Finn misses out to Tim Bresnan in a small 12-man squad.

England have sprung a surprise by ommitting Steven Finn from the Test squad to face India in the first Test at Lord's this week.

The England selectors left out Finn from the squad who won the recent series against Sri Lanka and recalled Bresnan, who returns to the Test team for the first time since the fifth Ashes Test at Sydney in January.

Bresnan missed the series against Sri Lanka with a calf muscle injury lay-off but performed well on his return to international cricket in the one-day international with Sri Lanka. Bresnan had been expected to be recalled in a 13-man squad but the selectors have decided to omit the centrally-contracted Finn and prepare with just 12 players.

Finn, 22, can count himself unlucky. He was voted as the Best Emerging Player in the world by the ICC in 2010, takes a wicket every 40 balls in Test cricket and became the fastest Englishmen to take 50 Test wickets earlier this summer.

"Steven Finn has also benefitted from his time at county level in recent weeks and continues to press hard for Test selection," Geoff Miller, the England national selector, said.

"It's very pleasing to see the depth of quality around our bowling attack particularly with a challenging four-match Test series on the horizon."

With James Andersen, Chris Tremlett and Graeme Swann assured of their places in Andrew Strauss's side against the No 1 ranked team, Bresnan will now vie with Broad for a place in the starting XI. Broad has come under pressure after only taking eight wickets in the three Tests against Sri Lanka and was recently dropped for the fifth and final ODI with Sri Lanka.

Many feel his position as Twenty20 captain is keeping him in the side but he at least hinted at a return to form with a match haul of six for 162 against Somerset last week for Notts.

"Tim adds further bite to our pace attack along with James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad who has greatly benefitted from getting overs and wickets under his belt for Nottinghamshire during the week," Miller said.

"This is clearly a highly-anticipated series between two of the world's top Test playing nations and I know the England team is certainly looking forward to the challenge of taking on the number one ranked team in Test cricket."

The squad:

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex) (Captain)

James Anderson (Lancashire)

Ian Bell (Warwickshire)

Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)

Alastair Cook (Essex)

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)

Kevin Pietersen (Surrey)

Matt Prior (Sussex)

Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Chris Tremlett (Surrey)

Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)

* Compiled with Agency