KENT have included England all-rounder Mark Ealham in their squad for Thursday's Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tie in Taunton despite axing him from the side that beat Warwickshire under floodlights in Canterbury last night.

The 32-year-old winner of 64 one-day international caps was sensationally dropped from the Spitfires’ team for what club officials described as "private and internal disciplinary matters’.

Club skipper Matthew Fleming and coach Ian Brayshaw took the decision to drop their leading all-rounder before the warm-ups and the toss, following an alleged disagreement with the player at Monday night’s team training session under the St Lawrence floodlights.

The players involved and club officials preferred not to comment on the disciplinary measures and Kent, inspired by a four-wicket burst from Fleming, went on to win by 13 runs - but such a fall out 48-hours ahead of a trophy semi-final tie can hardly be classed as opportune.

Kent have included Ealham and injury doubt, David Fulton, in their party for the Somerset game. Fulton, who has missed the last three games with a fractured finger on his left hand, will undergo a fitness test ahead of the game but understudy wicketkeeper Geraint Jones will stand by.

Spinners Min Patel and James Tredwell will also make the trip and at least one of them should feature on a Taunton pitch that occasionally helps the finger spinners.

Martin Saggers and James Golding appear to be the only front line seamers guaranteed a place, with David Masters, Amjad Khan and Ealham vying for the other berths.

Somerset will be without their England opener Marcus Trescothick following surgery to his fractured thumb, but have home advantage and sufficient strength in depth to repeat their quarter-final defeat of Kent in last season’s competition.

The tie will be given an extra edge by the ECBs decision to appoint former Kent skipper Mark Benson as one of the two umpires out in the middle.

Benson, who retired from first-class cricket in 1995, has yet to stand in a match involving Kent since joining the umpires’ panel in the 2000 season.

Kent from: Fleming, Key, Hockley, Symonds, Nixon, Fulton, Ealham, Tredwell, Golding, Masters, Saggers, Khan, Patel, Jones.