England’s selectors are ready to put faith in the men they put forward for the fateful fourth Test at Headingley, and are believed to have overlooked the claims of Mark Ramprakash and Robert Key
Andrew Miller16-Aug-2009Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut in the Ashes decider at The Oval on Thursday, after being confirmed as Ravi Bopara’s replacement in a 14-man squad for the crucial fifth Test. Trott is expected to slot into the middle order, with his county team-mate, Ian Bell, promoted to No. 3. Monty Panesar also returns to the reckoning as a potential partner for Graeme Swann if England choose to go in with two spinners.”It’s been a good few days for me, and I’ve picked a good one [to make my debut],” Trott told Sky Sports. “I went into the changing room last week [at Headingley] and I felt really welcome and comfortable, so I’ve just got to make sure my own mind and game is in order, and make sure I take my opportunity.”England’s four-man selection panel – Geoff Miller, James Whitaker, Ashley Giles and Andy Flower, plus the captain, Andrew Strauss – met for five hours on Friday at Trent Bridge, where both Bell and Trott scored second-innings hundreds to secure a draw for Warwickshire against Nottinghamshire. Those performances were enough to convince them that wholesale changes were not required, despite the humiliation of England’s innings-and-80-run defeat in the fourth Test at Headingley, meaning that the prospects of recalls for Mark Ramprakash and Robert Key receded.”The final Test match is an absolutely vital game for the team with so much at stake and we have had to make some difficult selection decisions in choosing our squad for The Oval,” said the national selector, Geoff Miller. “Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut. Having been part of the squad at Headingley, he was the next batsman in line in our view and this rewards him for the excellent form he has shown in county cricket both this summer and with England Lions over the winter.”Ian Bell will bat at No. 3 next week which is a position he has occupied for England before and we were delighted to see both him and Jonathan make centuries for Warwickshire this week.”The selectors have shown an admirable determination not to be hustled into “panic” measures after a week of intense media speculation. Strauss and Flower were understood to be particularly keen not to jettison their entire Ashes strategy after one poor game. Nevertheless, the decision to pitch a Test debutant into England’s most eagerly anticipated fixture for four years, alongside Bell, who bagged a pair in the corresponding match in 2005 and whose temperament in pressure situations has often been shown to be suspect, will undoubtedly leave them open to further scrutiny.Bell’s average at No. 3 is a lowly 31.00, set against an overall figure of 39.84, suggesting he is a player who prefers to react to events on the pitch rather than set the agenda. Trott, meanwhile, was withdrawn from the England Lions team to face the Australians in a two-day match at Canterbury on Saturday, a sign that the selectors didn’t want to give the tourists an early look at him. Either way, both men undoubtedly benefited from the presence on the selection panel of Giles, who serves a dual role as Warwickshire’s director of cricket.Trott’s century on Thursday was his fourth of a season in which he currently averages more than 80 in the County Championship, and at the age of 28 and after a decade in first-class cricket, he is clearly as ready as he could ever be to play in such a high-profile fixture. However, as his Australian counterpart, Mike Hussey, warned at Canterbury on Saturday: “It is a huge step-up from first-class to Test.””I look forward to finding out,” said Trott. “It should be a little bit [of a step-up], because that’s why Test cricket is the ultimate. But I mustn’t worry about that, I’ll just worry about my game. When I go out to bat I’m a lot calmer than I am before I bat, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. I felt pretty good against Nottinghamshire. It was a tough situation as we were following on, but it was very pleasing [to make a hundred] and I’ll take a lot of confidence from that game, so will Bell.”The Headingley fall guy is Bopara, who has managed 105 runs in seven innings this series, having recorded three Test centuries in succession against West Indies earlier in the year. The selectors took soundings from within the Essex dressing-room to assess Bopara’s frame of mind, and a morale-boosting 52 not out for Essex at Lord’s on Friday wasn’t enough to earn a reprieve.”Ravi Bopara has been going through a tough time with the bat in this series and we have decided to leave him out of the squad for this game,” said Miller. “He will be extremely disappointed but remains very much part of our plans for the future and I am sure that he has the talent and temperament to regain his place in the side.””Every batsman has been through a run of low scores and he hasn’t managed to really get in and show what he is made of in this series,” said Flower, Bopara’s former Essex team-mate, after the Headingley defeat. “It’s a tough situation for him but he is a pretty calm bloke, so he’s keeping it in perspective.” There is no question that he will be an integral part of the Test and ODI parties to South Africa this winter, which were also discussed at Trent Bridge.England’s other change for The Oval will be the welcome return of Andrew Flintoff, whose damaged right knee was given a positive verdict by his specialist, Andy Williams, last week, and who can be guaranteed to bowl until he drops in what will be his final Test before retirement. He is likely to come in for Graham Onions, who has performed impressively since joining the side in the second Test, but who lacks the outright swinging skills of James Anderson, or the presence that Flintoff and an in-form Steve Harmison bring to the line-up.Anderson emerged from the Headingley Test with a slight hamstring strain, sustained while sprinting for a quick single, but Miller reported a clean bill of health for both England’s injury concerns. “Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson’s injuries are much improved with rest and treatment,” he said, “and we anticipate that both players will be fit and available for selection next Thursday.”England squad: 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Jonathan Trott, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Harmison, 12 Monty Panesar, 13 Graham Onions, 14 Ryan Sidebottom.