FOUR Yorkshire players have been named in the 16-man England Test squad for the three-match series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, which begins next month.

Joe Root, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and York's Jonny Bairstow make up a quarter of the party, but out-of-form opener Adam Lyth has been left out after playing in all seven of this summer's Tests, as has Yorkshire county colleague Gary Ballance, with the selectors now opting for uncapped Nottinghamshire opener Alex Hales.

The other uncapped player in the 16 is Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari, who offers a third spin-bowling option alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.

Plunkett has been left out of the one-day and T20 squads but Bairstow, Rashid and Root are in the one-day squad and Rashid and Root are in the T20 squad, with 2016 Yorkshire recruit David Willey in both squads.

Hales will compete with Moeen for the chance to head the innings alongside captain Alastair Cook, and has been selected despite a lean run in the recent Royal London one-day series against Australia.

His county colleague James Taylor fared rather better in those games and has been rewarded with a return to the Test squad, having played his only two matches against South Africa in 2012.

Taylor's selection proved bad news for Ballance, who was dropped two games into the Ashes but had been tipped for a swift comeback.

Elsewhere, Ben Stokes has been rested from both white-ball formats having been an ever-present in all forms this summer.

Reflecting on the new arrivals in the Test squad, Skipton-born national selector James Whitaker said: "The challenge we face against Pakistan will be very different, and the composition of our squads reflects the conditions we expect to encounter in the UAE.

"Zafar Ansari's potential excites us and he will provide strong competition for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the Test squad after enjoying an excellent domestic season with both bat and ball for Surrey.

"Alex Hales has scored heavily for Nottinghamshire in first-class cricket this season, has shown he can play match-winning innings for England in white-ball cricket and fully deserves an opportunity to compete for a place at the top of the order in our Test side."

Whitaker also explained the decision to take Stokes out of the firing line for the latter part of the Emirates trip.

"In line with our recent decision to rest Joe Root for the Royal London one-day Series against Australia, we have opted not to include Ben Stokes in our one-day or T20 international squads," he said.

"Ben has been an outstanding performer for England this summer and this decision reflects a desire to manage his workload across a busy winter period in all three formats of the game. He will come back into contention for the white-ball format when we consider the make-up of our squads for the tour of South Africa later in the year."

The England and Wales Cricket Board have also confirmed the appointment of former one-day captain Paul Collingwood and recently-retired Sri Lanka great Mahela Jayawardene in consultancy roles.

Jayawardene will work with the Test batsmen until the end of the first Test against Pakistan, while Collingwood returns to the set-up to work with the limited-overs group in the UAE and will also work at next year's World Twenty20.

The backroom additions bear the fingerprints of ECB managing director Andrew Strauss.

Having made the decision to sack Peter Moores and install Trevor Bayliss as head coach earlier this year, he has once again moved to bolster the support team.

His long-time team-mate Collingwood previously assisted Ashley Giles at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh and always appeared likely to return in some capacity, but Jayawardene represents a major coup.

The 38-year-old retired in August with an enormous legacy in Sri Lankan cricket, having scored 11,814 runs in 149 Tests.

His primary task will be to impart his knowledge of sub-continental conditions and batting against spin on England's players.

Strauss said: "We are delighted that Mahela and Paul will be joining the England management team, supporting our existing specialist coaches in this area.

"Both will bring a vast wealth of cricketing knowledge and expertise to the team, and in Mahela's case, extensive experience of batting in the sub-continent which will be invaluable as part of our wider preparations for the UAE tour."

England squads to face Pakistan Test squad: Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Mark Wood.

One-day squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, James Taylor, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Stephen Parry, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.