Somerset seamer Johnson, 28, was called up Monday as a replacement for injured Lancashire quick James Anderson for next month's two Test tour of Bangladesh.

Johnson, already in the one-day squad for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, replaces the 21-year-old Anderson after the rising star of English cricket was ruled out last week of the first leg of the winter tour programme with a knee injury.

Former Middlesex paceman Johnson is due to get married this weekend to fiancee Nicky and the couple were due to have a honeymoon in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

But that will have to wait now that Johnson has been called up for Test duty although England chiefs have given him an extra 24 hours at home before he flies out on October 8, a day after the other members of the 15 man squad travel to Dhaka.

"We're going to have to put the honeymoon back now," said Johnson.

"We get married this weekend, and I fly out on Wednesday so we're only going to get a couple of days together before I go.

"You don't get called up by England every day, and I need to take every opportunity that comes along.

"It's hard on my other half because this has happened only a week before we were getting married and going away but she understands and she's very supportive."

Johnson's desire to nail down an England place comes as no surprise given how his own international career has been blighted by injuries.

He was first called up England's 1995-6 tour of South Africa only for a back problem to force him out before the squad left the country.

Then, after Andrew Caddick's withdrawal two winters ago on security grounds from the tour of India, Johnson had the frustrating experience of playing in warm-up games but never getting a Test cap.

That only came in June when he took six for 33 on his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Durham's Riverside ground.

But his injury jinx struck again when first groin problems forced him out of the one-day series before a knee injury effectively ruled him out of the whole Test campaign against South Africa.

By the time he regained fitness the selectors had called upon James Kirtley, who took 13 wickets in two Tests before pulling out with shin splints, while 34-year-old Surrey seamer Martin Bicknell played in the final two Tests of a five match series that ended in a 2-2 draw.

England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, explaining the decision to call up Johnson, said: "Richard produced an outstanding performance against Zimbabwe at Durham in his first Test match and deserves an opportunity to press for a place in the Test side again.

"James Kirtley was our nominated stand-by bowler for the Test squad, but we have decided not to call on him at this stage in order to give him more time to recover from a shin injury ahead of the one-day series in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka."

England are due to play two Tests against Bangladesh in what is their inaugural five-day series against the Asian minnows with the first starting in Dhaka on October 21.