• England in Australia 2013-14

Pietersen, Swann, Anderson rested from ODI, T20 squads

Graeme Swann and James Anderson will return home after the Ashes as the selectors look to monitor their workload © Getty Images

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England have rested Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and James Anderson from the limited-overs squads for the series in Australia. With Jonathan Trott also absent due to a stress-related illness, there will be an air of inexperience about the ODI squad, in particular.

After the Ashes Tests, England play five ODIs, starting January 12, followed by three T20s with the tour ending February 2.

"This is going to be another month of tough cricket and then a heavy schedule from the West Indies tour onwards," Andy Flower, England's head coach, said. "Straight after the World T20, the IPL begins and while that's on, the English season starts. Our players who play all three forms cannot play 12 months a year.

"Guys like Anderson and Pietersen are in their early 30s now and they are prize assets and we need to look after them. From a physical perspective, they're always dealing with various niggles and sometimes they need to be taken out of competition. That is not for them just to rest, it's so we can maximise their skills when they do play."

The selection is another sign of the increasingly unsustainable nature of England's schedule. With a World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand about 12-months after the completion of this ODI series England would, in an ideal world, like to field a settled side to gain more experience of the conditions.

But such is the weariness - mental and physical - of some of England's leading players, that the selectors have little choice but to continually rotate them from anything but priority series.

The move will provide an opportunity for younger or fringe players to prove their worth, though. So the likes of Michael Carberry, Boyd Rankin and Danny Briggs win another opportunity to show their ability, while Jade Dernbach has also been retained in the T20 squad.

Some of the squad members will be based in Australia well in advance of the limited-overs leg. Briggs, Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan are currently in Brisbane and Perth with the England Performance Programme. Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan will be taking part in the T20 Big Bash League in Australia in the build-up to the series. The remainder of the squad will arrive on January 8.

ODI squad: Alastair Cook (capt), Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell.

T20 squad: Stuart Broad (capt), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler (wk), Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Luke Wright.

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

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