England recalled all-rounder Dominic Cork but left out Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash today in their squad to take on Pakistan in the first test.
Instead, the selectors opted for two uncapped players, calling up Surrey left-handed batsman Ian Ward and Yorkshire left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom.
The rest of the 13-man squad, captained by Nasser Hussain, all featured in England's 2-1 series win in Sri Lanka at the start of the year.
Cork, impressive in the home series against West Indies last year, missed Sri Lanka and the preceding test series in Pakistan with a back injury. Ward and Sidebottom both featured for England A in the West Indies earlier this year.
Ramprakash, a veteran of 42 tests, had been hoping for a recall after being dropped last year while Hick, who has played 65 tests, was dropped for the third test against Sri Lanka and then removed from England's list of contracted players.
Ramprakash had moved from Middlesex to county champions Surrey for this season to try and revitalise his career.
Robert Croft, who impressed in Sri Lanka despite continuing criticisms that he is not a big spinner of the ball, got his chance after rival Ashley Giles was sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury.
Pakistan are expected to name their team on Wednesday or Thursday.
England squad:
Nasser Hussain (captain), Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Alec Stewart, Michael Vaughan, Ian Ward, Craig White, Dominic Cork, Robert Croft, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, Ryan Sidebottom.
Reuters