Rugby-Ashton, Strettle back in England World Cup frame

* Prolific winger Ashton named in 50-man training squad * Itoje, 20, surprise call-up * Squad to be cut to 31 in August (Adds quotes, detail) By Mitch Phillips LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Winger Chris Ashton has been given the chance to resurrect his stalled England career after being named in Stuart Lancaster's bulging 50-man rugby World Cup training squad on Wednesday. Ashton, joint leading try scorer at the last World Cup, has featured in just two internationals since 2013 but his relentless scoring for Saracens this season made an irresistible case for a recall. The 28-year-old will now battle with Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Jonny May, Marland Yarde and David Strettle, another surprise recall who has not featured since 2013, for the wing berths as Christian Wade misses out. As expected, there was no place for the foreign-based players despite frantic lobbying in the English media for Lancaster to break with the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) position and select them. Ashton's Saracens team mate Maro Itoje was among several uncapped players in the squad, which will be trimmed to 31 in August. The 20-year-old, who can play lock or in the back row, has forced his way into unexpected contention after a barnstorming second half of the season having captained England under-20s to their World Cup triumph last year. Exeter flyhalf/centre Henry Slade, his hooker club mate Luke Cowan-Dickie, Wasps centre Elliot Daley, Northampton flanker Callum Clark and Bath's recent rugby league convert Sam Burgess were also given a shot. The powerful Burgess, who can potentially play flanker or centre, could benefit from the absence of the banned Manu Tuilagi as Lancaster seeks a powerful presence at 12 inside likely outside centre first choice Jonathan Joseph. "It feels like the countdown's begun," Lancaster told reporters in the bowels of the stadium where England will kick off the World Cup against Fiji in four months. "We feel we have tremendous strength in depth and are excited to name this extended squad which allows us to look at a wide group of players. "There are a lot of experienced internationals and it's also good to have young players in there who have come through our player development pathway and have had great seasons for their clubs." France-based duo Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon were not included as Lancaster and the RFU stuck to its policy of selecting only players performing in the English Premiership but the door remains open for several injured players, such as Ben Foden and Tom Croft, who could be drafted in during the summer. Some of the squad's fringe players and those returning from injury will be involved in a non-cap match against the Barbarians on May 31 before a slightly reduced group travels to Denver in the United States for an altitude training camp. After further culls there will then be three warm-up games, two against France and one against Ireland, before the tournament opener against Fiji on Sept. 18. England training squad: Chris Ashton (Saracens) Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby) Brad Barritt (Saracens) Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons) Mike Brown (Harlequins) Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints) Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby) Danny Care (Harlequins) Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks) Calum Clark (Northampton Saints) Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints) Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs) Elliot Daly (Wasps) Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby) Nick Easter (Harlequins) Owen Farrell (Saracens) George Ford (Bath Rugby) Alex Goode (Saracens) Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) James Haskell (Wasps) Maro Itoje (Saracens) Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) Joe Launchbury (Wasps) George Kruis (Saracens) Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby) Joe Marler (Harlequins) Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby) Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints) Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby) Matt Mullan (Wasps) Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers) Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers) David Strettle (Saracens) Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby) Mako Vunipola (Saracens) Billy Vunipola (Saracens) Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) Rob Webber (Bath Rugby) Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens) David Wilson (Bath Rugby) Tom Wood (Northampton Saints) Marland Yarde (Harlequins) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers) (Editing by Patrick Johnston and Ken Ferris)