Bath lock Steve Borthwick has been handed the England leadership duties in the absence of regular skipper Phil Vickery, who misses appointments with the All Blacks this summer due to a knee injury.

Steve Borthwick will captain England on this summer's tour to New Zealand.

Bath lock Borthwick has been handed leadership duties in the absence of regular skipper Phil Vickery, who misses appointments with the All Blacks in Auckland and Christchurch due to a knee injury.

Borthwick, capped 37 times, has recent experience of the role after acting as captain for England's RBS 6 Nations victory over Italy three months ago.

He takes charge of a 32-man squad - the first of Martin Johnson's reign as England manager - that includes six uncapped players.

The newcomers are London Irish wing Topsy Ojo, Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, Bristol prop Jason Hobson, Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley, Irish hooker David Paice and his club colleague, lock Nick Kennedy.

Vickery apart, other absentees from the Six Nations campaign include fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, who is absent through shoulder surgery, Wasps lock Simon Shaw and Bristol hooker Mark Regan.

But the major selection casualties appear to be Gloucester backs Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo.

Full-back Balshaw started all five of England's Six Nations Tests, while former Bradford Bulls wing Vainikolo made his debut off the bench against Wales and then kept his place for the remaining four fixtures.

Wasps wing Paul Sackey, meanwhile, has been named in the squad despite suffering a knee injury during his club's Guinness Premiership victory over Leeds Carnegie last weekend.

Gloucester wing James Simpson-Daniel looks to have missed out due to pending shoulder surgery, but England will still travel with a strong blend of youth and experience.

Among those players with points to prove will be 65 times capped Wasps flanker Joe Worsley, who missed the entire Six Nations campaign.

And his injury-hit Wasps team-mate Tom Rees must look to put recent injury problems behind him and mount a challenge for the number seven shirt currently worn by Bath's Michael Lipman.

There is also a welcome recall for Gloucester centre Mike Tindall, whose season appeared to be over after he was seriously hurt during England's Six Nations opener against Wales at Twickenham.

Tindall spent three days in the intensive care unit of a London hospital with problems to his liver and internal bleeding.

But he returned to action in Gloucester's Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat against Munster last month, and he would undoubtedly have been among the captaincy candidates considered by Johnson.

Of the uncapped brigade, much interest will revolve around the selection of Hartley.

The New Zealand-born prospect was on course to make England's World Cup squad last year, but he was cited and then banned for 26 weeks after being found guilty of gouging during a club game.

Despite playing the whole of this season in National League One with the Saints, he has maintained a high level of form and is likely to gain a place in England's Test 22 for the All Blacks opener on June 14.

Ojo produced an outstanding try-scoring display during Irish's Heineken Cup semi-final defeat against Toulouse last month, while Care inspired Harlequins to the brink of this season's Premiership play-offs.

Vainikolo and Balshaw though, two consistent selections during the reign of former England head coach Brian Ashton, clearly now both face tough challenges for further Test recognition, despite the Johnson era being in its early stages.

England fly to New Zealand on June 2 without Johnson, who is staying at home to be with his pregnant wife, with the Rugby Football Union's elite rugby director Rob Andrew taking on tour manager responsibilities.

Also announced today was the England Saxons squad to travel to the USA and Canada for the 2008 Barclays Churchill Cup. The side will be led by Harlequins flanker Will Skinner and there are nine capped players in the 28-strong squad.

England squad to tour New Zealand

Forwards
Steve Borthwick (Bath Rugby) Captain
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)*
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Jason Hobson (Bristol Rugby)*
Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)*
Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
David Paice (London Irish)*
Tom Palmer (London Wasps)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Tom Rees (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)

Backs
Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)*
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Toby Flood (Newcastle Falcons)
Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks)
Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons)
Topsy Ojo (London Irish)*
Pete Richards (London Irish)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Harlequins)
Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)

* Denotes uncapped player

England Saxons Barclays Churchill Cup squad

Forwards
Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
Richard Blaze (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Brown (Gloucester Rugby)**
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)**
Alex Clarke (Bristol Rugby)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby)
Tom Guest (Harlequins)
Chris Jones (Sale Sharks)**
Nick Lloyd (Saracens)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Will Skinner (Harlequins) Captain
George Skivington (London Wasps)
Andy Titterrell (Gloucester Rugby)**
Rob Webber (London Wasps)
Dave Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)

Backs
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)**
Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby)**
Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Foden (Sale Sharks)
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)**
Adrian Jarvis (Harlequins)
Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers)**
Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers)**
Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)

** Denotes capped player