Panesar overlooked for England Performance Squad

Monty Panesar is the notable omission from the ECB's 27-man England Performance Squad (EPS) that was announced on Tuesday ahead of the 2010 summer international season.

The EPS, which has been chosen by the England selectors, consists of 11 players currently on 12-month ECB central contracts, plus seven on increment contracts. Hampshire's Michael Lumb, who is a member of England's World Twenty20 squad, is the only player not capped at international level.

Four spinners have been named in the squad - with the recent Test pairing of Graeme Swann and James Tredwell joined by the legspinner Adil Rashid and the slow left-armer Michael Yardy - but Panesar's omission leaves him with ever more ground to make up if he hopes to be selected for a second Ashes tour at the end of the year.

However, there are no major surprises in the squad, which includes all the players who toured with the senior team this winter, with the exception of the reserve wicketkeeper Steven Davies, who has been pushed down the pecking order following the emergence of Craig Kieswetter.

"The England Performance Squad is designed to allow the selectors to monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game," said Geoff Miller, the national selector.

""The selectors can name up to 30 players in the EPS, but we have decided to keep three places vacant at present in order to give ourselves greater flexibility and we will reserve the right to add further players to the squad if their performances in domestic cricket merit it.

"We were delighted with the progress made by several younger players such as Craig Kieswetter, Steven Finn and Ajmal Shazad over the winter with either the England team or the England Lions squad and their selections in the EPS reflect this.

"James Tredwell and Michael Carberry have previously experienced the England set-up after making an impact at international level during the winter and similarly Joe Denly and Liam Plunkett firmly remain in our plans over the course of the summer. From a limited overs perspective Michael Lumb and Michael Yardy have already been included in England's ICC World T20 squad for the forthcoming tournament in the Caribbean."

Full contract James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Increment contract Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)

Uncontracted Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Michael Lumb (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Ajmal Shazad (Yorkshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Michael Yardy (Sussex)