Shahzad and Bresnan primed as England cast an eye to Ashes defence

Bresnan will hope to continue the fine form he produced in helping to guide England to Twenty20 World Cup glory, while Shahzad may finally get his chance to shine on debut.

In picking a squad of 12, England's selectors chose to rest Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood, who is suffering from a shoulder injury, and pace bowler Stuart Broad.

Into the side come Shahzad, fellow paceman Steven Finn and another success story from the Caribbean, Eoin Morgan.

Morgan, seen as a limited overs specialist up to now, has a chance to show that he can also score runs in the all-together different Test arena.

Collingwood's shoulder injury means England will begin a third successive campaign without the man who has led them to their previous success.

Andrew Strauss returns, as planned, to captain in a two-Test series but the rest of the squad has certainly been picked with next winter's Ashes in mind.

The upshot is that Strauss, himself replaced by Alastair Cook for England's two Test victories in Bangladesh two months ago, will lead a team without Collingwood.

National selector Geoff Miller is entirely confident, however, that there will be no ill-effects of the chopping and changing made necessary by the need to rest key players.

"We said last winter it was necessary for him to have a break," Miller said of Strauss, who returned to form with the bat for Middlesex last week.

"The atmosphere within the changing room is absolutely first-class, so there will be no problem in him returning."

Neither Cook nor Strauss was picked to travel to the West Indies over the past month as England won an International Cricket Council tournament trophy for the first time.

The captaincy reins therefore change hands for a third consecutive time, Strauss back to take charge of a team minus mainstays Collingwood and Broad but containing surprise inclusion Morgan.

The 23-year-old Middlesex batsman replaces Collingwood while his county colleague Finn can also contemplate a first Test in this country on his home ground, thanks in part to Broad's absence.

Morgan will make his Test debut if England pick their full complement of six batsmen. Should they instead go with an extra bowler, Yorkshire pair Bresnan and Shahzad will both be involved.

Of the two high-profile absentees, Miller said: "Paul Collingwood has a niggle in his shoulder, so we are carefully watching and looking after him.

"Stuart Broad is going to have some important strengthening work, and that gives us an opportunity to bring other players in.

"Everybody would be disappointed not to be playing in a Test match anywhere for England.

"But we have discussed the situation with both players, and they are thoroughly understanding of it – so we will move on.

"Steven Finn played in our last Test and has had a good start to the year with Middlesex. It is an opportunity to show us he is capable on different surfaces.

"We do target him, because he has shown us so far what he is capable of doing. But we don't just need one, we need several players like him coming through – who can benefit from the experience and add to that strength in depth. We know we have quality in our squad; we now have to keep striving for consistency."

England squad for Lord's test

Squad to face Bangladesh in first npower Test at Lord's this Thursday:

AJ Strauss (capt, Middlesex)

JM Anderson (Lancashire)

IR Bell (Warwickshire)

TT Bresnan (Yorkshire)

AN Cook (Essex)

ST Finn (Middlesex)

EJG Morgan (Middlesex)

KP Pietersen (Hampshire)

MJ Prior (Sussex)

A Shahzad (Yorkshire)

GP Swann (Nottinghamshire)

IJL Trott (Warwickshire)