Tremlett placed on reserve list for battered England bowling attack

England bowler Chris Tremlett has been called up as a potential replacement for England’s bowling attack for the World Cup in Asia later this month.

Tremlett, who was a surprise inclusion for England’s winter tour to Australia, played in three Ashes test matches, taking 17 wicket as England went on to take the series 3-1.

He also played in the ill-feted one-day series against Australia which ended in humiliation for England as they went down 6-1. The heavy series defeat will have affecting England’s odds in sports betting markets, having previously been considered as amongst the favourites to win the tournament.

However he was not selected in the original 15 man squad for the World Cup on the continent with England’s selector’s opting for Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad instead.

The second half of that tour was blighted with injury as the majority of their bowling attack was forced to return home early for the tour.

Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, and Ajmal Shahzad all missed the end of the tour through injury, while all-rounder Paul Collingwood and batsman Eoin Morgan were forced to sit out the end of the one-day series.

Morgan has now been ruled out of the tournament and with Bresnan and Shahzad both struggling to be fit in time, Tremlett has been called up as cover.

Stuart Broad missed the majority of the test series and all of the one-day series with a stomach injury and Tremlett will be considered as the ideal replacement for him should he fail to recover in time having covered for him during the test series.

The Surrey bowler was also forced to return home early from the tour with a side injury but is ready to step in if needed, and national selector Geoff Miller believes it is important to have adequate cover.

He said: “While the injured bowlers in the 15-man squad are all progressing well, the selectors have decided it would be prudent to have an additional player on hand who is acclimatised in case we need to apply to the Event Technical Committee for a replacement due to injury.”

England’s opening match in the World Cup is against Holland on the 22nd February, while they begin their preparation for the tournament in a warm-up against Canada in a week’s time.