CRICKETSKIPPER Ronnie Irani has been named in a 13-man squad for Essex's County Championship match at Swansea.There is however some doubt over Irani's fitness, due to a knee injury, and he will undergo a late test before deciding whether to play at St Helens.

CRICKET

SKIPPER Ronnie Irani has been named in a 13-man squad for Essex's County Championship match at Swansea.

There is however some doubt over Irani's fitness, due to a knee injury, and he will undergo a late test before deciding whether to play at St Helens.

Irani played in Monday's one-day game against Gloucestershire at Bristol, but may find a four-day match beyond him.

He said: “I decided that I would give it a go on Monday after having a few days' rest, but I'm not sure yet whether I'll be play on Wednesday.

“I desperately want to play because we need a bit of experience around but there's no point in me starting the game if I can't finish it, so we'll just see how things are on Wednesday morning.”

Essex meet a side who are struggling at the bottom of the table and are hoping to complete the double over the Welsh county. Five weeks ago, Irani's 218 and 148 from Ryan ten Doeschate helped Essex to a mammoth 548 for seven declared, and they then bowled their opponents out twice to win by an innings and seven runs, with Danish Kaneria taking 13 for 181.

Although the Pakistan leg-spinner has continued to weave his magic, Essex have been unable to add to that victory in the competition since and currently lie sixth, having lost two of their last three matches.

However, Glamorgan have also struggled to capture their form and have just 14 points so far.

Should Irani be unavailable, then Mark Pettini will continue to deputise as skipper.

Tony Palladino returns after recovering from an abdominal strain and replaces the luckless Andrew McGarry, who is set to miss the remainder of the season after fracturing a finger against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The hosts are also suffering with injuries. England fast bowler Simon Jones has been withdrawn from today's match with a swollen knee while Australian all-rounder Damien Wright is out with a thigh injury.

However rookie paceman James Harris is named. The 17-year-old, who is still attending college, became the youngest player in the history of the championship to take 10 wickets on debut when he returned 12-118 against Gloucestershire.