Bell's costly touch rugby slip may let Cook in to claim his spot

Bell became the latest player to hurt himself playing touch rugby before practice and while captain Paul Collingwood's joke that 'I thought he was doing a bit of a Drogba when he went down like that' suggests his knee injury is not serious, it is another example of an unnecessary fitness problem.

Slip: Bell may have to sit it out

James Anderson in Wellington, and even coach Andy Flower before that in Cape Town, have been injured recently in these extra-curricular games of which England are so fond.

Bell must now be hoping he is the fourth NatWest one-day international against New Zealand today. Otherwise, England will surely have to consider the risks inherent in dabbling with the oval ball at The Oval.

The talented enigma of the English batting line-up started this series well as an opener in Durham but floundered at Edgbaston and Bristol and Bell needs to perform today if he is not to come under pressure from Alastair Cook.

The Essex man has recovered from his own shoulder problem and is looking to regain his place after being England's top run-scorer in their two most recent one-day series, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Cook is on stand-by should Bell's injury prove to be more serious than feared and the fact that England pulled him out of Essex's Twenty20 match last night against Sussex suggests he could yet be needed.

Ryan Sidebottom, meanwhile, is now fully fit to challenge the inconsistent Anderson for his  place in a match England need to win to stop the perceived improvement in their one-day performances proving to be another false dawn.

The tourists again proved remarkably resilient in fighting to level the series in Bristol and if they can now go on to repeat their 3-1 series triumph in New Zealand earlier this year, England will drop to seventh in the world rankings.

New Zealand will be lifted by the return of Jacob Oram at the expense of Gareth Hopkins, with Brendon McCullum taking the gloves back, and it would be no surprise if they finished what has been a dismal tour for them with a flourish.

To stop that today and in the last match at Lord's on Saturday England must rid themselves of the inconsistency or perhaps even complacency that they displayed in the third match and, to an extent, the rain-ruined farce at Edgbaston.

Collingwood admitted yesterday that the vast sums involved provided a dilemma for players in deciding whether to end their international careers early or cash in on the Indian leagues. But first and foremost England need to win the series.

Then the money will take care of itself.