Vaughan included in performance squad

England have included Michael Vaughan in a 25-man performance squad from which the team to contest this summer's Ashes series will be choosen.

Vaughan, 34, has not played international cricket since stepping down from the skipper's role in August 2008, during a losing home series against South Africa.

Vaughan, who holds one of 12 central contracts awarded by the England and Wales Cricket Board, was left out of the recent England tour to the West Indies.

Vaughan will have a chance to impress the England selectors tomorrow, when he plays for the MCC against Durham, at Lord's. He will be hoping to resurrect his Test career in the contentious No3 batting spot which Ian Bell and Owais Shah have failed to make their own.

"The selectors can name up to 30 players in the performance squad but we have decided to keep five places vacant in order to give ourselves greater flexibility," said the national selector, Geoff Miller. "We will reserve the right to add further players to the squad if their performances in domestic cricket merit it."

The 21-year-old Yorkshire leg spinner Adil Rashid is the only uncapped player in a squad that will also provide the team to play West Indies in two Tests, starting at Lord's on 6 May. The rest of the squad, which includes eight players who were involved in the 2005 Ashes victory, have played limited-overs internationals at least.

Essex's James Foster who had a tremendous domestic season is recalled as one of three wicketkeepers, the Lancashire pace bowler Sajid Mahmood may get another chance after impressing during the domestic games. The Danish-born seamer Amjad Khan has also made the line-up, after playing one Test and one Twenty20 match in the Caribbean.

"The performance squad is designed to allow us to monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game," Miller said.

"In the case of someone like Amjad Khan, who impressed everyone when he joined the latter part of the Caribbean tour, it allows us to monitor his progress after [a recurring knee] injury."