Samit Patel has been included in England's preliminary 30-man squad for next year's ICC Cricket World Cup.
The Notts all-rounder is named alongside Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad who faces a race to prove his fitness having had his Ashes tour cut short by a muscular tear.
"England have continued to show an interest in Samit and this selection shows that he is still on their radar and he has an opportunity to force his way in," said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell.
"He's 26 now and as I see it he's approaching his peak years in professional cricket. Andy Flower rates him and it remains vital that Samit doesn't give the selectors a reason not to pick him."
Patel has a solid record at international level but hasn't played for England since 2008 having failed to meet fitness criteria outlined by the ECB.
“Samit Patel has also been included in this preliminary squad and, along with every other player named, will be required to meet individual fitness criteria before the squad is finalised," said national selector Geoff Miller.
“There is still some time to pass before the final squad is selected so all 30 players have sufficient time to press for selection.”
England have been drawn in a group alongside Bangladesh, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa and West Indies.
The team will play two warm-up games against Canada and Pakistan before beginning their World Cup campaign on February 22 against the Netherlands in Nagpur, India.
England 30-man ICC World Cup squad
Andrew Strauss (captain, Middlesex)
Jimmy Adams (Hampshire)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Ravi Bopara (Essex)
Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Steven Davies (Surrey)
Jade Dernbach (Surrey)
Steven Finn (Middlesex)
James Hildreth (Somerset)
Craig Kieswetter (Somerset)
Michael Lumb (Hampshire)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)
Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)
Kevin Pietersen (Surrey)
Liam Plunkett (Durham)
Matt Prior (Sussex)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire)
Darren Stevens (Kent)
Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)
James Tredwell (Kent)
Chris Tremlett (Surrey)
Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Luke Wright (Sussex)
Michael Yardy (Sussex)