The disappointing 2008 World Cup campaign has proved costly for a host of familiar names, with only 11 survivors in a fresh-faced England squad for the forthcoming Gillette Four Nations.

The party for the tournament against France, Australia and New Zealand, which starts on October 23, also comprises only nine players from the engage Super League Grand Final combatants, compared with 15 from Leeds Rhinos and St Helens last year in Australia, where their club divisions were an acknowledged problem.

Tony Smith, the England coach, has omitted Leon Pryce, Paul Wellens and Ade Gardner, from St Helens, and overlooked the Leeds trio of Rob Burrow, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Keith Senior, who had declared his availability despite his international retirement after the World Cup, in favour of a more youthful squad.

A quarter of the players in the party are aged 21 or under, with first call-ups for Sam Tomkins, the Wigan Warriors stand-off, and Kyle Eastmond, who assumes Sean Long’s place at scrum half place for St Helens next year but whose exciting centre play may also resolve an under-resourced area for Smith.

“We’ve got some young people coming through and they deserve a chance,” Smith, who has an eye on the next World Cup in 2013, said. “There is only one way to gain experience and that’s by picking them. They’ve had tremendous years and deserve to be there. This series is about now but it’s also about the future. We feel that they’re ready now.”

By dropping the experienced Burrow, Smith is placing a significant emphasis on Richie Myler, 19, as his first-choice scrum half, who will play his first match since July against Wales in a warm-up fixture on Saturday.

Shaun Briscoe, the full back, will sit out the game in Bridgend, to recover fully from a shoulder injury he suffered with Hull Kingston Rovers in the play-offs, while Eorl Crabtree, the Huddersfield Giants prop, has had keyhole surgery on his knee and is not expected to be fit until the game against Australia on October 31.

There are recalls for Paul Sykes, of Bradford Bulls, and the Leeds duo of Kevin Sinfield and Lee Smith, who is expected to form a new centre partnership with Michael Shenton, of Castleford Tigers. However, Tony Smith has given himself a further threequarter option with the selection of Chris Bridge, formerly of Ireland.

Celtic Crusaders will announce a new coaching duo tomorrow of Brian Noble and Jon Sharp, Noble’s Great Britain assistant from 2004 to 2006.

England squad

Backs: C Bridge (Warrington), S Briscoe (Hull KR), K Eastmond (St Helens), P Fox (Hull KR), R Hall (Leeds), D McGuire (Leeds), R Myler (Salford), M Shenton (Castleford), L Smith (Leeds), P Sykes (Bradford), S Tomkins (Wigan).
Forwards: S Burgess (Bradford), G Carvell (Warrington), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), G Ellis (Wests Tigers), J Graham (St Helens), S Moore (Huddersfield), A Morley (Warrington), S O’Loughlin (Wigan), J Peacock (Leeds, captain), J Roby (St Helens), K Sinfield (Leeds), B Westwood (Warrington), J Wilkin (St Helens).

Four Nations fixtures:
Oct 23: England v France (Doncaster)
Oct 31: v Australia (Wigan)
Nov 7: v New Zealand (Huddersfield)
Nov 14: Final (Elland Road, Leeds).