Bell..

I have stuck up for him in the past, but he really has to do it.

Agreed, I think he's lucky that Shah isn't really a number three. He really must be in last chance saloon now though, but you know that he'll get the whole series so he can relax a tad.

Collingwood needs to watch out, Shah will be breathing down his neck, he looks a Test Match number 5.

Trouble is, by not selecting Shah for this series, if Bell has a shocker then its basically Shah's first decent run in the team....during the ashes. All the recent uncertainty regarding captains can't have helped.

Strauss gone 8/1.

He'd already been dropped once.

Where has it come about that Shah isnt a number 3???
He's batted at 3 for Middlesex for years.

31-2 now

And as for dropping Anderson for Harmison and Sidebottom...doesnt surprise me one bit as the selectors have proved themselves incompetent for years now...get rid of arguably our best bowler these past 12 months for someone who a) is notoriously poor away from home and b) someone who hasnt played for about 4-5 months...excellent stuff

Is Bell still in?

It's come from me, he's not a number three in my mind, not ideally. I'm not disputing that he's played there, he only averaged 30 odd in First Class cricket for Middlesex playing there last year. In my opinion, he's an ideal number five but he's too twitchy & jerky at the crease for a number three. He's so intense, I'm not convinced with the ball moving around when your new at the crease it's ideal for Owais. I have to say, I'd find a place for him to be honest, I think his time is now, if he keeps getting overlooked, it wouldn't surprise me if he drops down the pecking order, as you'll get the clammer from the media for the likes of Bopara to be included if he ups his game.

If It was my England team, I'm a nailed on Key at three, Shah five man. Big thanks to Colly & Bell for their contributions, every time you think this though, Colly pulls a score out of the bag, Bell may well do today, although it's more likely he'll get out for 51-60.

He scored over 1,000 runs at an average of 42.16 last season...whether he got all of these batting at number 3 I don't know.

I know what you mean about him being twitchy and intense etc but I seriously think he'd do a good job for us there if he's given a decent chance...but it seems that Vaughan is more or less guaranteed the number 3 spot if he even thinks about getting some runs next season which would mean Bell would move back down to 5 or 6 and Shah won't get a chance at all.

And if only Bell had got 50-60 today too!!!
He's clearly a talented batsman but the problem is one of concentration and mentality - I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't think he's right for top class test cricket because of this/these flaws.

Pietersen is just different class, Freddie would be just as good a batsmen if he wasn't a bowler as well