Flintoff leads England's Ashes defence

England expects: Andrew Flintoff has been appointed to lead England in Australia © Getty Images

As widely predicted, Andrew Flintoff was today appointed to lead England in both the Ashes series and the Champions Trophy which precedes it.

"We have had to make a very tough decision in choosing between Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss for the captaincy and we were fortunate to have two such outstanding candidates available to us in Michael Vaughan's absence," David Graveney, chairman of selectors, told reporters at The Oval. "Ultimately, we took the view that Andrew Flintoff had demonstrated excellent leadership skills during a difficult tour of India earlier this year, that he was the man in possession and deserved a further opportunity to continue as captain. "

The squad also included Ashley Giles even though a serious hip injury means that he has not played for almost a year. Graveney said that he would need to prove his fitness before the start of the series and arrangements had been made for him to play in India. Two other injury doubts - James Anderson and Steve Harmison - are also expected to play in next week's final round of Championship matches to prove their fitness.

As expected, Simon Jones and Michael Vaughan were not included. Jones has been advised by the American surgeon who operated on him not to resume playing until the start of the 2007 season. Vaughan will not travel to Australia until he is able to start cricket-related training but is aiming to be fit for the VB Series. Graveney refused to rule out another comeback for Darren Gough, but his body language suggested that it was unlikely. "If his fitness returns, who's to know," he shrugged.

The squad for the Champions Trophy contains no major surprises, although many will consider Rikki Clarke to be fortunate to make the trip after a poor return to the one-day side against Pakistan.

A 14-man Academy squad will be based in Western Australia for a five-week period during the Ashes Tests, under the management of National Academy Director, Peter Moores. Graveney said that the squad would act as cover for any players in the full side. "These are the next-best players we have in the country," he added.

Ashes squad Andrew Flintoff (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick.

Champions Trophy squad Andrew Flintoff (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, James Dalrymple, Steve Harmison, Ed Joyce, Sajid Mahmood, Jon Lewis, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Michael Yardy.

Academy squad Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Rikki Clarke, James Dalrymple, Steven Davies, Ed Joyce, Robert Key, Jon Lewis, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Tom Smith, Chris Tremlett, Michael Yardy.