The Faruque Ahmed-led selection committee as expected, decided to stick to all the players who had toured England in May-June.

The squad's camp starts at the Army Stadium from Monday but coach Dav Whatmore can expect to get only 13 cricketers as ten players are now in England with the Bangladesh A side.

"We had a poor Test series in England but the tour ended on a high note and the way the boys played in the one-day series was really inspiring. That was the reason why we did not feel the need to drop anybody from the England tour party. Besides, we do not have a policy of making too many changes," explained Faruque.

About the inclusion of 21-year-old Russel, who is now with the A team in England, Faruque felt that he could add variety to the attack.

"It's true that there are as many as eight pace bowlers in the preliminary squad but we took into consideration the young man's recent performances at different levels and especially his effectiveness in the shorter version of the game. A left-arm pacer can also bring variation to the attack and he is very much capable of swinging the ball both ways although he does not possess great pace."

Faruque said that the Interna-tional Cricket Council's (ICC) new additions to one-day regulations had played a role behind recalling the out-of-favour Kapali.

"It was a major issue in our discussion. If Kapali gets the final nod he can be a perfect super-sub because he is a brilliant batsman, a top fielder and an effective leg-spinner."

Faruque said that they were desperate to include a quality off-spinner but at the moment they could not think of anyone who could fill the gap.

The chief selector also emphasised on the need for more involvement of the captain in team selection.

"I have always tried to hold informal discussions with the captain before announcing a team. But I feel he should be officially a part of the selection process. But with the Board's policy of naming the captain on a tour by tour basis, that is not possible. My suggestion is that the Board should pick a captain for a certain length of time."

Faruque informed that they would first announce a 15-member team on August 10 for the three-match one-day series against the islanders.

"During the one-day series we will decide how many players would return home and who would replace them."

PRELIMINARY SQUAD
Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Nafees Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Rafique, Manzarul Islam Rana, Enamul Haque Jr, Abdur Razzak Raj, Khaled Mahmud, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Tapash Baisya, Nazmul Hossain, Shahadat Hossain Rajib, Syed Russel, Anwar Hossain Munir, Talha Jubair, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tushar Imran and Alok Kapali.