Chambers has been called up to the England performance squad

Essex seamer Maurice Chambers admits he is puzzled as to why Ravi Bopara will not be joining him in England's Australia-bound development squad.

Bopara and selectors jointly decided his winter would be best spent playing first-class cricket in South Africa.

Chambers, 23, told BBC Essex: "If I was Rav I would want to be in Australia, just in case anything went wrong.

"If any of the players got injured he's the next person in line. I'm not really sure what that's about."

All-rounder Bopara, 25, will play for KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins while Essex team-mate Chambers enjoys his first ever call-up to England's 16-man performance squad, which is set to be based in Australia up until the start of the third Ashes Test in Perth on 16 December.

When I saw the 2005 Ashes, I wanted to become part of it so much my heart changed straight away Maurice Chambers

Chambers' inclusion comes after a productive season for the pace bowler, which featured a 10-wicket haul against Notts in July, and saw him take 32 wickets at an average of 25.81 in the County Championship.

But his international career could have panned out very differently had the Jamaican-born player elected to play for the West Indies.

"If you would have asked me this question when I was a teenager I would have said my heart was set to play for the West Indies," he said.

"But when I saw the 2005 Ashes (which England won 2-1), I wanted to become part of it so much my heart changed straight away."

He continued: "The aim over the last year was to play for England, but I didn't want to get carried away.

"At the end of the day it's about what you do for your county in order to get to that stage, so I wanted to focus on the domestic side of it.

"It's an opportunity to be around England players and to work with different coaches and improve my game and take it to the next level."

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