Cook among England players rested

Kevin Pietersen's last ODI appearance came on the tour of India in January © BCCI

England have rested Alastair Cook, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad for the ODI series against Australia after their involvement in the 3-0 Ashes victory. In Cook's absence, Eoin Morgan will captain the side. Kevin Pietersen, who returned from a knee injury shortly before the Test series, is also included in the 14-man squad.

England will play five ODIs against Australia after a one-off fixture against Ireland next Tuesday. Pietersen, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott will not travel to Dublin for that match, during which Morgan will again lead the side.

Chris Jordan and Jamie Overton receive senior call-ups for the first time, while Michael Carberry, capped once previously in Tests, is now in both limited-overs squads. Boyd Rankin, the former Ireland fast bowler who made his England debut during the T20 series against New Zealand earlier in the summer, and Luke Wright, whose last ODI appearance came during the 2011 World Cup, are also included.

Gary Ballance, Danny Briggs and James Taylor are the three players replacing Pietersen, Root and Trott in the 14 to take on Ireland, with Yorkshire batsman Ballance in line for a potential debut. In all, five players yet to play ODIs for England have been included.

Of the XI who played in England's defeat to India in the Champions Trophy final in June, five will be missing against Australia - in addition to Cook, Bell, Broad and Anderson, Tim Bresnan is absent through injury. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes, who were part of the Champions Trophy squad, have also been omitted, possibly to allow them more red-ball cricket with their counties during the Championship run-in.

"Following a very intense period of cricket this summer we have decided to rest a number of senior players, which will allow them to recover from a heavy workload over the last three months and to prepare for the tour of Australia which begins in eight weeks," England's national selector, Geoff Miller, said.

"This creates an excellent opportunity for players who have impressed in county cricket and for England Lions recently to test themselves at international level as we continue to build a squad ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is less than 18 months away. There are a number of very experienced one-day players in the squad alongside players who are new to international cricket and we are expecting a very tough challenge both from a strong Ireland side and then from Australia in what will no doubt be a very competitive NatWest series."

Pietersen has been included despite saying during the Test series that he would have to manage his knee for the rest of his career. He didn't play for three months after suffering bruising to the joint on the tour of New Zealand. His last ODI appearance came in January, during the ODI series in India, and he has been carefully looked after by England since briefly retiring from limited-overs cricket last year.

Without their established openers Cook and Bell, Carberry looks set for a first ODI appearance after a summer of heavy scoring for Hampshire. He could be partnered by Root, who has spent his one-day career to date in the middle order. Despite the struggles that led to him being dropped from the Test side, Steven Finn will be the senior fast bowler in an inexperienced attack, with James Tredwell continuing to deputise for Swann and Jos Buttler retaining the wicketkeeping gloves.

Ashley Giles, England's limited-overs coach, has plenty of in-form players to look at as he begins to shape plans for the 2015 World Cup. Wright, who made his highest List A score - 143 not out from 68 balls - when captaining England Lions against Bangladesh A, has hit four centuries in his last ten innings in all formats; Ballance has made scores of 104, 115 and 87 in three knocks for the Lions; while Sussex allrounder Jordan, the first player to take 50 Championship wickets this season, claimed 4 for 38 on his Lions debut last week.

Morgan, meanwhile, hit 90 for Middlesex in the YB40 on Monday, his first half-century since returning from a broken finger that required surgery after the T20s against New Zealand in June. Buttler and Ravi Bopara also played significant innings for their counties over the Bank Holiday weekend.

England squad to play Ireland: Eoin Morgan (capt), Gary Ballance, Ravi Bopara, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Jamie Overton, Boyd Rankin, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Luke Wright.

England squad to play Australia: Eoin Morgan (capt), Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Jamie Overton, Kevin Pietersen, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.

Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here

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