Kent skipper Rob Key and off-spinner James Tredwell have both been named in ECB’s 26-strong performance squad for 2008 – effectively putting them on standby for the England Test team.

England’s 14 centrally contracted players are supplemented by 14 non-contracted cricketers who will also take part in squad training programmes and placed on standby for international selection.

The squad includes three players who are uncapped at international level; former Kent batsman Michael Carberry, Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid and Tredwell, who toured New Zealand with the one-day international squad after Christmas.

Commenting on his selection Key, who has made no secret of his desire to add to his 15 Test caps (the last of which came three years ago in South Africa), said: “To be honest I only found out about it when our coach Graham Ford rang me this morning.

“It’s obviously not like being told your back in the squad and playing for England again, but it is a step in the right direction.

“I had a decent year last year for Kent and I’ve always felt that in this game you might always stand a chance of achieving what you deserve if you’re amongst the runs."

Key added: “This squad is picked by the Test selectors, so this is telling me they consider me to be amongst the best 26 players in England and one of a handful of top batsmen.

“It’s nice to be recognised in that manner and gives me hope and faith to continue doing what I believe in, which is; if I’m scoring shed-loads of runs for Kent I’ll be in with a good shout at being picked for the Test team again.

“I’ve still got to go out there and produce the goods, but this is a quiet nudge to tell me that I am at least going in the right direction and in with a chance.”

National selector Geoff Miller, said: “The England Performance Squad is designed to allow Peter Moores to closely monitor the development of international players and better prepare them for the demands of the international game.

“We have decided to keep four places vacant at present in order to give ourselves greater flexibility and we will reserve the right to add further players to the squad if their performances in domestic cricket merit it.”

England Performance Squad 2008: Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire), James Anderson( Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire), Stephen Harmison (Durham), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Robert Key (Kent), Dimitri Mascarenhas (Hampshire), Philip Mustard (Durham), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).