Selectors stick solid with the side that recently retained the urn.
England has named a largely unchanged 17-man squad as they prepare to travel to Australia to try and retain the Ashes during a 17-game tour.
The only real talking point is the omission of Ravi Bopara with selectors finally looking to the future having given the all-rounder enough chances to prove himself at Test level.
Monty Panesar earned a reprieve despite being in trouble off the field recently with a well-published incident at a nightclub.
England 17-man squad announced for the five-Test 2013/14 Ashes tour of Australia:
Squad
Alastair Cook (Essex, capt), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Matt Prior (Sussex, wkt), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Monty Panesar (Essex), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Chris Tremlett (Surrey)
Fixtures
Oct 25: England arrive, Perth
Oct 31-Nov 02: Three-day warm-up v Western Australia, WACA, Perth
Nov 06-09: Four-day warm-up v Australia A, Blundstone Arena, Hobart
Nov 13-16: Four-day warm-up v v New South Wales XI, Sydney Cricket Ground
Nov 21-25: 1ST TEST, The Gabba, Brisbane
Nov 29-30: Two-day warm-up v Chairman’s XI, Traeger Park, Alice Springs
Dec 05-09: 2ND TEST, Adelaide Oval
Dec 13-17: 3RD TEST, WACA, Perth
Dec 26-30: 4TH TEST, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Jan 03-07: 5TH TEST, Sydney Cricket Ground
One-day international series
Jan 12: 1ST ODI, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Jan 17: 2ND ODI, Gabba, Brisbane
Jan 19: 3RD ODI, Sydney Cricket Ground
Jan 24: 4TH ODI, WACA, Perth
Jan 26: 5TH ODI, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Twenty20 international series
Jan 29: 1ST T20, Blundstone Arena, Hobart
Jan 31: 2ND T20, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Feb 02: 3RD T20, Stadium Australia, Sydney
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