England retain winning formula

Having emphatically completed a 354-run victory against Pakistan in the first Test, England have stuck with the men who delivered the job and named an unchanged squad for the second match, which begins on Friday at Edgbaston.

Tim Bresnan, included as a late replacement in the squad for the opening game after Ajmal Shahzad picked up an ankle injury, retains his place with Shahzad being sent back to Yorkshire for their crucial Championship clash against Nottinghamshire to prove his fitness.

The competition for the position of England's back-up paceman is close, with Bresnan impressing during England's away tour to Bangladesh before Shahzad got the chance to stake his claim when he made his Test debut against the same opposition at Old Trafford last month.

Geoff Miller, the national selector, said he was impressed with England's showing at Trent Bridge but echoed Andrew Strauss's sentiments in calling for consistency.

"Clearly we were delighted with the performance in the first Test but the key to consistency is building on that success throughout the rest of the series," he said. "We saw a number of outstanding performances at Trent Bridge not only with bat and ball but also in the field and the challenge is to maintain those standards over the next three Test matches.

"Tim Bresnan returns to the squad while Ajmal Shahzad will play for Yorkshire in their County Championship match commencing Tuesday. We would like to see how Ajmal gets through this four-day match given the recent ankle injury that saw his withdrawal from the first Test squad."

Bresnan's inclusion is largely a formality with England settled on the four-man attack that proved so hostile in the opening Test and barring a late injury he is likely to remain on the sidelines.

England's unchanged squad could not be in greater contrast to their opposition who have dropped spinner Danish Kaneria and hauled veteran ex-captain Mohammad Yousuf out of retirement to bolster the batting.

England squad 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn, 12 Tim Bresnan.