Ashes hero Clark misses out on World Cup but England to go for Jimmy
While England lodged a predictable enough World Cup squad on Tuesday, Australia revealed that they had dropped Ashes hero Stuart Clark from their 15-man group.
Selectors' chairman David Graveney will on Wednesday morning officially unveil a squad shorn of unorthodox batsman Mal Loye and including key opening bowler James Anderson, whose long-standing back complaint is said to have eased.
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With the names needing to be registered with the International Cricket Council by Tuesday night, it emerged that England's nemesis Clark has been left out of the world champions' title defence that begins next month in the Caribbean.
Deciding that there is room for only one Glenn McGrath in their squad, the Australians have preferred the raw speed of Shaun Tait to the leading wicket-taker in this winter's Test series.
Leg-spinning allrounder Cameron White is also absent, with his place going instead to reserve wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who can bat throughout the order. Andrew Symonds has also been picked in the expectation that he will recover quickly from a bicep operation.
Pakistan have included both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohamed Asif, despite both having tested positive for nandrolone last year, although there are doubts over the condition of Shoaib's knee.
