London, July 6: Graham Onions was recalled by England today as they boosted their bowling options by naming five seamers in a 13-man squad for the first Test of the Ashes series against Australia at Trent Bridge next week.
Durham paceman Onions won the last of his nine Test caps against the West Indies at Edgbaston last year. He was joined in the squad by Yorkshire seam-bowling all-rounder Tim Bresnan, who missed the recent home series win over Australia while he recovered from elbow surgery.
Also in the squad were pace trio James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn.
Broad missed England’s warm-up win over Essex with a shoulder injury, a match where key off-spinner Graeme Swann was struck a painful blow on the right arm having had surgery on his right elbow earlier this year. But both bowlers were passed fit.
As expected, Nick Compton was left out of the squad after England national selector Geoff Miller had preciously said Joe Root would be promoted to open the innings, something the 22-year-old does for Yorkshire but has yet to do at Test level, alongside captain Alastair Cook.
Somerset opener Compton, grandson of England great Denis, scored back-to-back hundreds in New Zealand earlier this year but was omitted after a poor return series against the Kiwis that saw him manage just 39 runs in four innings.
Meanwhile star batsman Kevin Pietersen returned to the Test squad for the first time since March following a knee injury. (AGENCIES)
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