England are to name an elite squad of 20-25 players who will form the basis of their attempt to win the 2003 World Cup.

The announcement of the squad will be made later this summer and comes in response to England's disastrous NatWest Series performances which saw them lose all six games against Pakistan and Australia.

The decision to name a squad was announced following a meeting at Lord's today between coach Duncan Fletcher, selectors David Graveney and Geoff Miller, and ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin, management advisory committee chairman Brian Bolus, cricket operations director John Carr and chief executive Tim Lamb.

Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said: "Duncan has suggested the idea of 20 to 25 players and we had three and a half hours at it earlier this week and today's meeting was to bring the management committee up to speed.

"Not all that squad will go to Zimbabwe later this year and it's not a closed shop, but the public should know from the selectors what path we want to go down.

"This squad will not be a contracted scenario but it gives a clear message to the younger guys that they could have a part to play in the next World Cup."

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