England call-up Dernbach to replace Shahzad

England on Friday called up Surrey pace bowler Jade Dernbach to their World Cup squad as a replacement for Ajmal Shahzad who was forced out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.

 

Twenty-four-year-old Dernbach began the winter on the England performance programme in Australia.

 

He is currently playing for the England Lions in the West Indies Cricket Board regional four-day competition and is the side's leading wicket-taker.

 

"We have been following the progress of Jade for some time," said national selector Geoff Miller.

 

"He is a talented athlete and has performed very well with the Lions on the current tour of the West Indies and we feel his variations will be extremely useful on the surfaces we will be playing on should we progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup."

 

England are waiting for the weekend's matches to be completed before finding out whether they have made the quarter-finals.