England chose not to recall Stephen Harmison when they named a 12-man squad here Sunday for next week's second Test against Sri Lanka.
The Durham quick has been sidelined from international action since sustaining a shin injury before the second Test in Mumbai two months ago.
But following his recent return to county cricket there had been speculation that the 27-year-old would be included in the squad for the second of a three-match series with Sri Lanka which starts at Edgbaston on Thursday. Sri Lanka batted for 14 hours to draw the first Test at Lord's but that was as much down to the fact that England dropped nine catches during the match as a lack of firepower among their largely inexperienced pace bowlers.
And Harmison's lack of match practice, with England building up to the Ashes series in Australia later this year and the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, ultimately counted against him.
Uncapped seamer Jon Lewis, in the 13-man squad at Lord's, retained his place but the selectors have omitted spare batsman Ian Bell who, like Lewis, failed to make it into the final XI in the first Test. All-rounder Andrew Flintoff will continue to captain the side in the ongoing absence of Michael Vaughan with a knee injury.
"Stephen Harmison was considered for this Test match, but ultimately we have decided that his and England's interests would be best served by allowing him more time to regain full match fitness," said England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney.
"He is making good progress and we will continue to closely monitor his performances for Durham."
Lewis is the most successful English bowler in first-class cricket this season with 24 wickets at just eight runs apiece.
Bell's omission was hardly a surprise given that, in their only innings at Lord's, England made 551 for six declared including hundreds from South Africa-born Kevin Pietersen and Marcus Trescothick and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 192. But, following-on, the tourists batted for 199 overs to save the game.
The second and concluding third Test are back-to-back, the series finale due to start at Trent Bridge on Friday, June 2.
SQUAD: Marcus Trescothick (Somerset), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Alastair Cook (Essex), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire, capt), Geraint Jones (Kent, wkt), Liam Plunkett (Durham), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Jon Lewis (Gloucestershire).
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