The former number three batsman had a disappointing Ashes series after impressing in the West Indies, and finds himself dropped from both the Test and the one-day squads.

The other big news in the 16-man Test squad sees Durham fast bowler Steve Harmison omitted from the squad in favour of his county colleague, Liam Plunkett, who last played for England in 2007.

"Stephen Harmison has not been included in the Test squad," said ECB National Selector Geoff Miller, "because we feel his form has not been consistent enough over the past 12 months to justify a regular place in the side and we want to give an opportunity to other players to make a case for selection.

"Liam Plunkett has worked hard to improve all aspects of his game since he last played for England and his selection is reward for consistently putting in strong performances for Durham both with bat and ball."

In other news, one-day star Luke Wright may make his Test debut, replacing the now-retired Andrew Flintoff as all-rounder.

Wicketkeeper Steven Davies has been called up as injury cover for Matthew Prior, while Kevin Pietersen is named in the squad despite concerns over his fitness for the tour because of an Achilles problem.

"Kevin Pietersen is making good progress with his recovery from surgery on his injured Achilles," explained Miller. "He will join up with the rest of the squad in South Africa following the first two T20 internationals and his fitness will be reassessed ahead of the one-day series.

"The retirement of Andrew Flintoff," he continued, "has created a vacancy for an all-rounder in the squad, and while we do not see Luke Wright as a like-for-like replacement for Andrew, we are excited by the way in which his all-round game continues to develop and believe he can make an impact at Test level."

As well as Wright and Davies, young leg-spinner Adil Rashid could potentially make his Test debut.

Alistair Cook, meanwhile, has been named vice-captain after Andrew Strauss.

The Test squad in full: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alistair Cook (vice-captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.

Shah has been England’s leading run-scorer in one-day internationals for the past few years and scored a scintillating 98 against South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy, but he has not been included in the 16-man touring squad for the one-day series.

Ravi Bopara has also been dropped, but opening batsman and new vice-captain in Test matches Alistair Cook makes a return to one-day international cricket after nearly a year’s hiatus.

Jonathan Trott has also been given a chance in the 50-over form of the game, having made a massive contribution on his Test debut and also impressing in county Twenty20 matches.

"Alistair Cook has shown great determination to improve his one-day game this summer, made runs at domestic level in both 50-over and T20 cricket and the selectors believe now is the right time to reintroduce him to our one-day side," said ECB National Selector Geoff Miller.

"Likewise, Jonathan Trott has made an immediate impact in our Test side and has also shown through his performances at domestic level that he has the talent and temperament to succeed in the shorter forms of the game.

"Sajid Mahmood is another player who has had a taste of international cricket before," continued Miller, "and he will be equally keen to make an impression in the one-day arena after continuing to show good form with Lancashire."

"Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah will, of course, be disappointed not to be included in either squad but they are both high-class players and will remain in the selectors’ thoughts as we go forward."

The one-day squad in full: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alistair Cook, Joe Denly, Sajid Mahmood, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matthew Prior, Adil Rashid, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.

The England Lions player, 28, will head to Old Trafford for the start of the 2010 County Championship campaign after choosing to leave New Road at the end of last season.

And Lancs head coach Peter Moores describing the signing as "fantastic news".

"We were keen to secure his services and are delighted he shares the same vision that we have for this great club," the former England coach explained.

"Not only is he a quality cricketer but has all the attributes and characteristics we look for in a person.

"We look forward to seeing Stephen play an important role in the future success of the team."

Moore has a first-class average of more than 40 and a Twenty20 average of 25.

And he said he is keen to join Lancashire and hopes to fire the club to domestic success in all forms of the game.

"To join a club of Lancashire’s stature is a fantastic opportunity for me at this stage in my career," he explained.

"I am confident that the club will provide me with the platform to grow and develop as a player and person.

"I look forward to being a part of the club’s future development, and will strive to contribute in everyway I can to the success of the team on and off the field."

Consisting of the now traditional five Test matches, the series will start at the Gabba in Brisbane on November 25th before heading to Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne and ending at the SCG in Sydney with the New Year Test.

The match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2010 will also continue a tradition in beginning on Boxing Day and finishing on December 30th.

England, who will go down under as the holders of the famous urn after this summer’s 2-1 series win, are set to warm up by playing three first-class matches prior to the first Test and a further first-class game between the second and third Test matches.

ECB chief executive David Collier described the recent Ashes series in England as "the sporting highlight of the summer", adding that the 2010/11 series "promises to be a great contest".

"I am sure many thousands of England cricket fans will be eager to purchase tickets when they go on sale and get behind the team in Australia," he added.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said he was looking forward to another thrilling contest between world cricket’s biggest rivals.

"Australian cricket fans always love an Ashes series and demand for tickets is going to be strong, so it is important to put the dates in diaries now," he said.

"We also expect to have a lot of UK fans here again.

"I know we have only just finished an Ashes series in England but I also know that the Aussie players – and Australian cricket in general – are already thinking about the Ashes series down under which starts in just over 12 months.

"Australia has a very good Ashes record at home and I’m hopeful that will continue next summer and we can bring the Waterford Crystal urn back to Australia."

The schedule for the one-day series is yet to be announced, although fans are keen to see a return to the format used in the 2005 and 2006/07 Ashes tours when the less prestigious one-day matches took place before the Tests.

However, it seems from the dates announced the limited-overs games will again follow the five-day matches in the same format as this year’s series in England.

Full list of dates for 2010/11 Ashes series in Australia:1st Test
November 25th – 29th 2010 (Brisbane)

2nd Test
December 3rd – 7th 2010 (Adelaide)

3rd Test
December 16th – 20th 2010 (Perth)

4th Test
December 26th – 30th 2010 (Melbourne)

5th Test
January 3rd – 7th 2011 (Sydney)

The contract for Jones, who has had several surgical procedures on his knee since injuring it playing for England in the 2005 Ashes series, includes several pay as you play clauses due to concerns over his long-term fitness.

There were fears Jones may have to retire after Worcestershire decided not to renew his contract at the end of the 2009 season following another injury-interrupted campaign.

However, Jones believes the move to the Rose Bowl could resurrect his ailing career.

He said: "I am delighted to have signed for Hampshire. I feel that the Rose Bowl is a venue and a club where I can re-ignite my cricketing ambitions and at the same time bring home some silverware and success to such a forward-thinking club.

"I look forward to meeting all the guys and hopefully adding to the superb talent that is already here."

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove said he is "delighted to have added Simon Jones to our battery of seam bowlers".

"I have been a great fan of Simon since the Ashes victory in 2005 and we all know what a match winner he can be when fully fit," he added.

Meanwhile Hampshire first-team manager Giles White commented: "Obviously we are very excited to have signed Simon.

"He knows he has a hard winter ahead in terms of rehab to get his career back on track but, he is a proven performer at both domestic and international level and I’m sure he will prove to be a great signing for the club."

Sussex and Somerset qualified for the first Champions League tournament as winners and runners-up, respectively, in the English Twenty20 Cup.

The newly-formed Champions League features teams from all over the Twenty20 cricketing world who did well in their domestic competitions, including Diamond Eagles from South Africa and the New South Wales Blues from Australia who will both play Sussex in the group stage.

And Sharks captain Michael Yardy is wary of the talent on display – New South Wales’ team features Australian Test players Brett Lee, Simon Katich and Nathan Hauritz among others – but insisted his players won’t be overawed by the occasion.

"A lot of our guys have been to India before," Yardy told website inthenews.co.uk.

"It’s a bit of a challenge because you’re looking to people’s best players and obviously want to counteract them. But that’s not a disadvantage for us, because everyone’s in the same situation.

"I think what we’ve done well in domestic cricket is really concentrated on the way we play one-day and Twenty20 cricket, and I don’t think we’ll lose that focus."

Sussex’s first fixture is against New South Wales Blues on October 11th, while the Somerset Sabres play the Deccan Chargers of India the day before, who number Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and VVS Laxman among their players.

The 33-year-old had been due to play for his IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils in the two-week tournament which begins this week.

However, a recent scan revealed a grade two tear in one of his gluteal muscles, the Press Association reports, forcing him to pull out of the 15-man squad.

A spokesman for the ECB claimed the injury should not rule the Durham player out of the upcoming England tour to South Africa.

"It’s anticipated with rest and rehabilitation, he will be available for the tour of South Africa," he said.

Australia beat arch rivals New Zealand in the final by six wickets to become the first country to win the trophy twice.

Ponting was ecstatic after the result.

"The guys have been terrific, not just now but for the last four and a half weeks," he gushed.

"Since the Ashes and the one-day series in England, it was all about getting ourselves in the position to do well here in the Champions Trophy.

"It was the icing on the cake."

The baggy greens annihilated England by nine wickets in the semi-final to add extra pain after their crushing 6-1 series win last month.

But this tournament wasn’t as easy for Australia, who lost vice-captain Michael Clarke and world-leading one-day international bowler Nathan Bracken to injury before the tournament started.

If it hadn’t been for a last-ball win over Pakistan, the Aussies wouldn’t even have made the knockout stages. Ponting, however, remained bullish.

"The cricket we’ve played has been great. We pride ourselves on being able to adapt to different conditions. And we’ve had players retire but we’ve brought in a lot of younger players, so it was great to see them do well," he said.

Ponting himself won the inaugural golden bat award (a literal golden bat) for finishing leading run-scorer in the tournament, not far ahead of team mate Shane Watson. But unlike Watson with his unbeaten 103, Ponting scored only one run in the final.

"[My batting] was really good until today. I felt really good since I had the little break after the Ashes. I made some one-day scores in England and that form seems to have carried over here," he added.

Australia will next head to India later this month.

The Black Caps had a disastrous setback before the match even started when captain Daniel Vettori was ruled out of the final with a hamstring injury, carried over from Saturday’s semi-final against Pakistan.

In Vettori, New Zealand lost not only a shrewd leader, but their number six batsman and one of the best spinners in the world, with his place taken by Jeetan Patel, making his first appearance in the tournament.

Vettori was the fourth casualty of an injury-plagued campaign for the Kiwis, but they had no excuse for a poor batting performance in which they posted only 200-9 after winning the toss and batting first.

Destructive opener Brendon McCullum suffered with the extra weight of captaincy on his shoulders, and was out for a 14-ball duck to give Australia an early breakthrough.

None of the New Zealand batsmen got going after that, with Aaron Redmond (26) and an on-form Martin Guptill (40) throwing away good starts.

There was a minor recovery from 94-5 thanks to Neil Broom and James Franklin, but when Broom was dismissed for 37 in a farcical run out and Franklin was bowled by a Brett Lee yorker for 33, the chances of a decent total were over.

The tailenders dragged the Kiwis up to 200 from the final ball of the innings.

Peter Siddle (1-30) was the major threat early on and Nathan Hauritz bowled brilliantly for his 3-37. Lee chipped in with two important wickets.

After Australia finished their overs a full 20 minutes late and the semi-final’s flying termites returned for another delay, the players finally took the field with the news that Callum Ferguson would still bat for Australia having sustained a nasty knee injury in the field.

But it was New Zealand who did the early damage: when the tournament’s leading run scorer Ricky Ponting was trapped LBW, Australia were 6-2.

Desperate rebuilding followed, with Shane Bond (1-34) and Kyle Mills keeping the Australians under constant pressure with brilliant pace bowling. At one point, only two runs were scored in five overs and Mills conceded just nine from his seven-over spell.

But Shane Watson and Cameron White survived the onslaught, and went on to put together a match-winning partnership. White was dropped by McCullum to complete the stand-in captain’s miserable day, and went on to score 62 in a stand of 128.

Only the superb Mills (3-27) threatened, and when Watson (105*) hit two sixes to reach his second successive century and win the match for Australia with four and a half overs to spare, it was a deserved victory.

Daniel Vettori led his unfancied injury-ravaged side to a five-wicket win, successfully chasing 234.

After losing the toss Vettori said he would be happy to restrict Pakistan to 300, but that was never on the cards once their top order failed.

Ian Butler, brought into the team to replace the injured Darryl Tuffey, who in turn was replacing the injured Jacob Oram, took career-best one-day international figures of 4-44 as Pakistan made a mess of setting a total on a beautiful batting pitch.

The usually superb Mohammad Yousuf never got going and dug his team into a hole by batting slowly in the middle overs, then getting out once the runs needed to come. His painful 45 from 78 balls put the batting side under pressure, and when 19-year-old Umar Akmal was given a bad LBW decision after making an excellent 55, Pakistan lost the plot.

Batsman after batsman got himself out immediately after hitting a boundary, and having hoped for 270 plus Pakistan found themselves floundering on 198-9. It took a brilliant, and unbeaten, last-wicket stand of 35 between numbers 10 and 11 to get them up to 233-9. Saeed Ajmal hit 14 and 17-year-old Mohammad Aamer 19, both at a run a ball.

New Zealand stuttered in reply, with Aaron Redmond’s dismissal on 31 leaving them 71-3. Ross Taylor hit the biggest six of the tournament but otherwise crawled to 38 from 61 deliveries, and New Zealand seemed to struggle to keep up with the rate. Grant Elliott, in particular, was scratching around at a run every two balls.

But it was, in fact, a brilliant strategy from the Black Caps. As the run rate crept up to seven an over they seemed to have thrown the game away, but a well-taken PowerPlay and some superb hitting from Elliott catapulted his strike rate from around 40 to 75 and New Zealand towards the target.

Elliott was dropped with 69 still needed to win, with captain Younis Khan putting down an absolute sitter, and held his nerve to finish on 75 not out.

Vettori deservedly won Man of the Match for adding a run-a-ball 41 to his excellent 3-43 with the ball. He and Elliott put on 104 for the fifth wicket, and the total was reached with two overs to spare.

England could learn from watching New Zealand’s perfectly timed run chase and intuitive use of the PowerPlay. Neither Pakistan nor England have won the Champions Trophy before, but both were left defeated semi-finalists as New Zealand and Australia set up an all-antipodean final.