Former Kent captain James Tredwell is waiting for news of whether he will be called up to replace Graeme Swann in the England Test squad Down Under.

Spinner Swann, 34, called time on his international career in the early hours of Sunday with England 3-0 down in the Ashes series ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne, which starts on Boxing Day.

Tredwell, 31, stepped down from the Kent captaincy at the end of the season after almost a year spent splitting his time between domestic and international duty.

The New Romney star sought advice from England management before taking the decision to vacate the Kent role and earlier this month was included in their squad for the five ODIs and three t20 internationals in January and February along with Hampshire’s left-armer Danny Briggs.

The spinner was set to fly out to Melbourne on January 1 ahead of a training camp before the first ODI at the MCG on January 12.

Tredwell revealed he heard news of Swann’s retirement as it broke on TV while he tended to new-born son Samuel early on Sunday morning.

He said: “I have to say I was surprised, I had heard whispers about him maybe stepping back from the one-day game, but I didn’t see this coming.

“He has been the main man over the last six or seven years and they are very big shoes to fill.

“I would imagine (Monty Panesar) will probably fill them in the immediate future, but I believe I have shown in the past couple of years that I am capable of playing at this level and it would be nice to have another go at proving it."

He added: "We have a squad out there at the moment but it might be that they need cover for the last Test (in Sydney, starting on January 3) and it might be that they decide to take me or Danny Briggs out there earlier, bring our flight forward.

"We’ll have to wait and see what happens. I had already begun packing some stuff for the trip, so I’m certainly ready to go if needed.”