Wainwright happy Rashid is applying pressure

DAVID WAINWRIGHT says his friendly rivalry with Yorkshire team-mate Adil Rashid is helping him advance up the England spin order.

The Pontefract-born left-arm spinner was named in England's provisional 30-man squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies at the end of April, along with his county team-mates Rashid, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad.

The news came as a shock to Wainwright who had only just returned home after three weeks representing the England Lions, alongside leg-break bowler Rashid, in the United Arab Emirates, and he believes the development of Rashid has been crucial to his own progression.

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"I enjoy bowling with Adil, it's always good to have him there, particularly when on England duty, because it makes me feel at home," said Wainwright, who will learn at the end of March whether he has graduated to the final 15-man squad to fly out to the West Indies.

"The likes of Graeme Swann and Liam Tredwell are in the driving seat at the moment but we can offer the selectors something different.

"It makes it a little bit tough having one of your rivals in the pecking order being a clubmate like Adil, but when we bowl together we're a good partnership. If one bowls tight, the other takes wickets, and vice versa.

"If Adil gets to the last XV I'd be pleased for him and I'm sure he'd be the same with me.

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"We're benefiting from each other and, on a personal level, if I don't get into the XV then I can still be proud that I got into the initial squad and that I'm in the selectors' thoughts.

"The long-term plan, though, is to get to the top of the spinning order."

Twenty20 is a format the 24-year-old has been comfortable with ever since making his debut in the competition for Yorkshire in June 2007.

"The batsmen come at you all the time," said Wainwright, who has earned his place in the provisional squad thanks to a haul of 13 wickets in 15 Twenty20 games for Yorkshire and his efforts in the Performance Squad and with the Lions.

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"They're trying to hit sixes so there's always a chance they're going to misread it."

England's stand-in one-day and Test captain Alastair Cook was the notable omission from the squad that begins its campaign against the hosts in Guyana on May 3.

Middlesex pace bowler Steven Finn, Hampshire batsman Michael Lumb and seamers Peter Trego (Somerset) and Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) are the other debutants in the squad.

England 30-man squad for ICC World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies:

P Collingwood (capt), J Anderson, I Bell,

R Bopara, T Bresnan, S Broad, S Davies,

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J Denly, S Finn, C Kieswetter, M Lumb, S Mahmood, D Mascarenhas, E Morgan, G Onions,

K Pietersen, L Plunkett, M Prior, A Rashid,

O Shah, A Shahzad, R Sidebottom, G Swann,

J Tredwell, P Trego, J Trott, D Wainwright,

C Woakes, L Wright, M Yardy.

Yorkshire duo Katherine Brunt and Danielle Hazell have been named in England women's provisional 20-strong squad for the women's ICC World Twenty 20.