GREG RUTHERFORD and Phillips Idowu will represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the forthcoming European Team Championships after being named in a 48-strong team by British Athletics.

Olympic gold medallist and British long jump record holder Rutherford and former world champion triple jumper Idowu will compete in the German city of Braunschweig later this month.

Middle-distance runners Hannah England and Jenny Meadows and hurdlers William Sharman and Eilidh Child are among the more experienced members of the squad, while Chris Baker, Lucy Bryan and Jazmin Sawyers are named in a senior team for the first time.

Baker is a high-jump specialist, Bryan won silver for pole vaulting at the British Indoor Championships earlier this year and 20-year-old Sawyers took silver at the British Championships in 2013.

There is also a spot in the 3000m for Shildon’s Kate Avery, a former Northern Echo Local Heroes award winner.

The team finished third at the 2013 European Team Championships in Gateshead and performance director Neil Black is eyeing an improvement in central Germany.

He said: “We head to Germany with the aim of being competitive and to challenge for as many points as possible.

“In comparison to last year’s team, this is very much a developmental squad due to the confines of a crowded calendar this summer and the Sainsbury’s British Championships just a week later.

“It is also great that our senior 400m and 4x400m athletes have wholeheartedly supported the plan to give up-and-coming athletes the opportunity to perform on this stage.

“It will greatly benefit the teams for future major championships, and I am really looking forward to seeing how these guys perform. There may be one or two surprises.”

Men

100m: Daniel Talbot; 200m: James Ellington; 400m: Daniel Awde; 800m: Mukhtar Mohammed; 1500m: Charlie Grice; 3000m: Jonathan Mellor; 5000m: Luke Caldwell; 110mH: William Sharman; 400mH: Rick Yates; 3000mSC: Luke Gunn; High Jump: Chris Baker; Long Jump: Greg Rutherford; Triple Jump: Phillips Idowu; Pole Vault: Steve Lewis; Shot Put: Zane Duquemin; Discus: Brett Morse; Hammer: Nick Miller; Javelin: Lee Doran; 4x100m: Harry Aikines- Aryeetey, Ellington, Adam Gemili, Richard Kilty, Talbot; 4x400m: Awde, Jarryd Dunn, Rory Evans, Andrew Steele, Rabah Yousif

Women

100m: Asha Philip; 200m: Sophie Papps; 400m: Shana Cox; 800m: Jenny Meadows; 1500m: Hannah England; 3000m: Kate Avery; 5000m: Julia Bleasdale; 100mH: Serita Solomon; 400mH: Eilidh Child; 3000mSC: Lennie Waite; High Jump: Isobel Pooley; Long Jump: Jazmin Sawyers; Triple Jump: Yamile Aldama; Pole Vault: Lucy Bryan; Shot Put: Rachel Wallader; Discus: Jade Lally; Hammer: Sophie Hitchon; Javelin: Isabelle Jeffs; 4x100m: Louise Bloor, Sophie Papps, Philip, Bianca Williams, Jodie Williams; 4x400m: Child, Cox, Emily Diamond, Laura Wake, J Williams