Johnson wields England axe

Martin Johnson has named his first England elite squad and left out some high profile names as he tries to create a team in his own image.

Mike Tindall, Ben Kay and Joe Worsley are the most notable absentees but Dave Strettle and Nick Easter have also missed out with all five being relegated to the Saxons squad.

Charlie Hodgson has been dropped completely but Josh Lewsey returns to the squad along with James Simpson-Daniel.

The complete squad reads:

Forwards: Steve Borthwick (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester), Jordan Crane (Leicester), Tom Croft (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Luke Narraway (Gloucester), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Tim Payne (Wasps), Tom Rees (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps).

Backs: Olly Barkley (Gloucester), Danny Care (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Toby Flood (Leicester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester), Josh Lewsey (Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Pete Richards (London Irish), Paul Sackey (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Mathew Tait (Sale), Tom Varndell (Leicester), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle).

England Saxons squad:

Forwards: Steffon Armitage (London Irish), Richard Blaze (Leicester), Louis Deacon (Leicester), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Jack Forster (Gloucester), Tom Guest (Harlequins), Jason Hobson (Bristol), Chris Jones (Sale), Ben Kay (Leicester), Michael Lipman (Bath), David Paice (London Irish), George Skivington (Wasps), Andy Titterrell (Gloucester), Joe Ward (Wasps), David Wilson (Newcastle), Nick Wood (Gloucester) Joe Worsley (Wasps).

Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath), Anthony Allen (Gloucester), Matt Banahan (Bath), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton), Andy Goode (Leicester), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Ryan Lamb (Gloucester), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Topsy Ojo (London Irish), David Strettle (Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Dominic Waldouck (Wasps), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale).