Big break for Bell

Enter Robert Key to a dash off a double century against the West Indies at Lord's before playing an even better innings, of 93 not out under real pressure, in Manchester a couple of days ago.

But if England can win without Thorpe as well, then their squad will not have looked stronger for more than 20 years.

Since returning to the side against South Africa at The Oval a year ago, following his much publicised marriage break-up, Thorpe has scored 1,240 runs in 16 Tests at an average of almost 60.

What is more, he has supplied four outstanding centuries, all of them created when under the cosh.

The pressure was personal when Thorpe made his 124 against South Africa, because he needed to convince some people that England were right to recall him. But the innings of 119 not out (in Barbados), 104 not out (v New Zealand at Trent Bridge) and 114 (at Old Trafford last Saturday) were so vital that they all earned man-of-the-match awards.

Not too tough an act for young Bell to follow, then!

Happily, like Strauss and Key before him, the 22-year-old right-hander joins England when he is just about in the form of his young life.

Four of Bell's past five championship innings for title-hunting Warwickshire have brought centuries, and the other ended with him 96 not out.

His chance at international level has been longer coming than many imagined.

But it was last winter, after a decidedly ordinary domestic summer, that perhaps gave Bell the final push he needed. And, almost inevitably, there is an Australian connection.

Encouraged by John Inverarity, the Perth-born former Test player who is now the Warwickshire coach, Bell went Down Under last October to play for the University of Western Australia.

"John gave me a contact and then left it down to me," he said.

"He was pretty keen for me to sort it all out myself and not leave it to anybody else."

Bell did the phoning and arranging to prove he wanted success badly enough and reaped plenty of reward.

"It was nice to get away from county cricket for a bit and experience some fresh ideas," he said.

"It was fantastic to be able to work on your game from Monday to Friday and then put it into practice on Saturday by playing grade cricket. I came back a better cricketer."

Trying to make every innings count in Australia in the winter has clearly had a positive effect on Bell's approach to English domestic cricket this summer. Now it looks as though he will have one match to show that he belongs at the highest level. And what a match, too, as England go for their second series clean sweep of the summer and straight win No7.

England (from): M Trescothick, A Strauss, R Key, M Vaughan (capt), I Bell or G Thorpe, A Flintoff, G Jones (wkt), A Giles, M Hoggard, S Jones, S Harmison, J Anderson. West Indies (from): C Gayle, S Joseph, R Sarwan, B Lara (capt), S Chanderpaul, D Bravo, C Baugh (wkt), O Banks, D Mohammed, P Collins, C Collymore, F Edwards. Umpires: D Hair (Aus), R Koertzen (SA). TV Replays: M Benson (Eng). Match Referee: R Madugalle (SL).