Fast bowlers Stuart Broad and Steven Finn were named in England's preliminary 30-man squad for next year's World Cup on the sub-continent.

Broad is hoping to be fit in time after the abdominal injury which ended his Ashes series, while Finn has yet to play a limited-overs match for his country but has become a pivotal member of the Test team.

Also in the squad, which will be halved on January 19 for the six-week tournament starting a month later, are Test wicketkeeper Matt Prior - one of three glovemen in the party - and opener Alastair Cook.
National selector Geoff Miller said: "We have selected a squad of players with a strong track record in limited-overs cricket, either for England or in the domestic game.

"Recent series have shown we have made progress in one-day cricket, and we will be looking to continue this form during next year's World Cup and challenge for another global title." There is also a return to the reckoning for Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel, long discarded after qualms about his general fitness.

Miller added: "Samit Patel has also been included in this preliminary squad and - along with every other player named - will be required to meet individual fitness criteria before the squad is finalised.
"There is still some time to pass before the final squad is selected, so all 30 players have sufficient time to press for selection."

England are drawn in a group alongside Bangladesh, India, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies. They will play two warm-up games against Canada and Pakistan before beginning their World Cup campaign on February 22 against Netherlands in Nagpur.

Preliminary squad: Andrew Strauss (captain), Jimmy Adams, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steve Davies, James Dernbach, Steven Finn, James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad, Darren Stevens, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright, Mike Yardy.

Oz name provisional World Cup squad

Ponting: No plans to step down Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke have been named as Australia's captain and vice-captain respectively in their provisional squad for February's World Cup.

A poor run with the bat in the Ashes had led to increasing speculation that Ponting might step down if Australia fail to retain the urn, but he was always going to be included when the selectors named their bloated squad for the 50-over tournament. Twenty20 specialist David Warner and fellow newcomers Mitchell Starc, Stephen O'Keefe and James Pattinson have also been named by the Australians - three-time defending champions - for the 50-over tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Stephen O'Keefe, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White. -Cricket365
India name preliminary World Cup squad

NEW DELHI, Dec 18, 2010 (AFP) - India on Saturday announced a 30-man preliminary squad for the World Cup starting in February.

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Murali Vijay, Roit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar.