Miller drops Strauss hint

England national selector Geoff Miller has dropped a strong hint that captain Andrew Strauss will retain his place in the side for the NatWest one-day series against Australia later this month.

Strauss' position in the limited-overs side had been in doubt following England's World Twenty20 success in his absence, with Paul Collingwood captaining the side. But Miller, in making the regular skipper unavailable to his county Middlesex for the period up to June 15, spoke of readying him for the Australia encounters.

Miller said: "We believe the best preparation for Andrew Strauss' build up to the NatWest series does not involve the Friend's Provident t20 fixtures and as such he won't be available for these matches during this period."

Paceman Steven Finn is to be rested from all cricket for a period of "strengthening" ahead of next month's npower Test series against Pakistan.

Finn made a huge impact in the two Tests against Bangladesh, taking 15 wickets in total and being named England's man of the series, but he appeared overly reliant on short-pitched bowling at times and displayed a puzzling habit of losing his footing after delivering the ball.

"Steven Finn has had an impressive start to the summer and will now undertake a strengthening programme similar to that recently undertaken by Stuart Broad," said Miller.

"This will also rule Steven out of the NatWest Series against Australia and Bangladesh before his preparation for the npower Test series against Pakistan."

Graeme Swann will also be excused from Friends Provident t20 duties ahead of the one-day internationals, with Miller noting: "We must be mindful of the management of the players' workload and their desire to play in what is a hugely exciting Twenty20 competition.

"Graeme Swann is in need of a well-earned break and as a result won't play any cricket during this period.

"Alastair Cook will receive treatment for an ongoing back injury later this week before playing with Essex on June 13."