Kevin Pietersen has been handed a month-long opportunity to exploit the absence of his rivals and stake his claim for an Ashes Test place after being named in England's one-day squad.

The Hampshire batsman has been included in a 14-man squad which will contest England's first ever Twenty20 international against Australia at the Rose Bowl on June 13 and the NatWest Triangular series which follows as he attempts to recapture the form which helped him hit three centuries during the 4-1 series defeat in South Africa last winter.

Those displays put him in contention for a place in England's Test side, which was denied him by the prolific early season form of Ian Bell and the selectors' loyalty to experienced Surrey left-hander Graham Thorpe for the crushing opening Test win over Bangladesh at Lord's.

Those two players were included in the squad again for the second Test at Chester-le-Street, which begins on Friday, but neither were selected in England's plans for a month-long programme of one-day cricket where Pietersen can take advantage of their absence to put pressure on the selectors for the opening Ashes Test at Lord's on July 21.

Thorpe has retired from one-day international cricket anyway and will play his 100th Test this week, but he may also have irritated the selectors by the timing of his announcement that he would not be available to England this winter and would instead be accepting an offer to play for New South Wales.

''There has been a lot written about Graham's decision and I would say right from the outset that the selectors were a little disappointed about the timing of that announcement,'' confirmed chairman of selectors David Graveney yesterday.

''There's been a lot of speculation about Graham, but most people would not have expected him to be available for the winter anyway and the most important and relevant fact is whether Graham Thorpe is the right person to play in the best team.

''He's experienced and his achievements are well documented, but he will know he has to maintain his form throughout the summer like all the batsmen do because there is competition out there from people like Kevin Pietersen and Robert Key.''

Unlike his other rivals - Kent batsman Key included - Pietersen will be in the public eye for at least a month with a succession of one-day games in the triangular tournament against Bangladesh and Australia and he will hope to be included in another squad, which is yet to be named, for the three-match NatWest Challenge series between the Ashes rivals.

It is a massive advantage and while Thorpe, Bell and Key do their best to impress in county cricket, Pietersen has a clear field to demonstrate his abilities against Australia's superb line-up.

He already has influential supporters in Hampshire captain Shane Warne, who has been urging his inclusion for the Ashes, while Australian captain Ricky Ponting has expressed his surprise that Pietersen is not already in England's Test line-up.

''Kevin Pietersen will challenge because he is a talent,'' admitted Graveney. ''The media have quite rightly promoted Kevin because of his South Africa form but there are others like Robert Key, who has been in outstanding form and was unlucky to be left out of the first Test and they will all be knocking on the door.

''It's quite right for Shane to promote his team-mates and I'm sure he'd talk in the same way about others.

"Kevin is a talent, but we've tried to have consistency with our selections over the last few years and that has been made easier because we've won more than we've lost and we hear the claims for Kevin loud and clear.

''To his credit when he wasn't included in the Test squad he, for one, admitted he hadn't got enough runs but he would get more and he's done that - his bat has done the talking.''

The other interesting inclusion is uncapped Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis, included in both squads after missing out on the starting line-up at Lord's, and almost certain to make his international debut in one format or another in the next month.

''Jon Lewis had an excellent A tour, continues to perform consistently for Gloucestershire in both forms of the game and fully merits a place in both Test and one-day squads,'' said Graveney.

''He is keen to represent his country and I'm sure that he will be ready to take full advantage of any opportunities that come his way.''

Simon Jones, with only two one-day international appearances to his name, has also been included following his superb display in the opening Test at Lord's but Glamorgan team-mate Alex Wharf was ruled out with a side strain although he may return for the Challenge Series against Australia starting at Headingley on July 7.

The fitness of left-arm seamer Ashley Giles also remains a concern and although he has already been ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh.

Durham's Paul Collingwood is included in the one-day squad

England squad for the second npower Test against Bangladesh, starting Friday:

Test squad: MP Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt) Age 30 Tests 56, ME Trescothick (Somerset) 29 59, AJ Strauss (Middlesex) 28 13, IR Bell (Warwickshire) 23 2, GP Thorpe (Surrey) 34 99, A Flintoff (Lancashire) 28 46, GO Jones (Kent, wkt) 28 14, GJ Batty (Worcestershire) 27 6, SP Jones (Glamorgan) 26 13, MJ Hoggard (Yorkshire) 28 39, SJ Harmison (Durham) 26 29, J Lewis (Gloucestershire) 29 0.

England one-day squad for the Twenty20 international against Australia (June 13) and the NatWest Triangular Series against Bangladesh and Australia (June 16 to July 2): MP Vaughan (capt) Age 30 Caps 66, Trescothick 29 98, Strauss 28 29, PD Collingwood (Durham) 29 70, KP Pietersen (Hampshire) 24 11, VS Solanki (Worcestershire) 29 36, Flintoff 28 80, GO Jones (wkt) 28 23, AF Giles (Warwickshire) 32 54, SP Jones 26 2, Harmison 26 25, Kabir Ali (Worcestershire) 24 8, D Gough (Essex) 34 148, J Lewis 29 0.