Robert Key: maintains captaincy of England A © Getty Images

England A have named a very strong squad for the four-day tour match against Pakistan in July ahead of the four-Test series. Matthew Hoggard, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell have all been included to give them some practice ahead of the Test series and they will be led by Robert Key, who retains the captaincy on his home turf of Canterbury.

It's the second successive match that the selectors have chosen a strong A squad, flying in the face of the tradition of fielding weaker sides for a run-out.

In April, England A unveiled a strong squad who went on to roll over Sri Lanka and the policy is largely the same here, the aim being to give an injury-riddled full England side some confidence and to give some of their players some practice.

There is also room in the squad for those players who are currently on the fringe of the international arena to showcase their talents and press for places in the Test and one-day sides. Stuart Broad is one such player, and he has been named in the full squad for the first time - his previous matches against West Indies and Sri Lanka earlier this year were last-minute call-ups. Broad, the Leicestershire pace bowler, has impressed at both A level and for his county.

Tim Bresnan and James Dalrymple, who made their one-day debuts recently, have both been included but Rikki Clarke has been dropped from the squad despite doing well for Surrey this season and being named in England's 25-man development squad in May. Ed Joyce, who played in the last A game, is out after damaging his ankle in England's recent Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka.

Squad Robert Key (capt), Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, James Dalrymple, Matthew Hoggard, Alex Loudon, Chris Read, Owais Shah
Coach: Peter Moores, ECB National Academy Director