England refuse to sound alarm bell over lack of batting cover

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Surprisingly, given they had named Bell as batting cover for three of this summer's four Tests against West Indies and Australia, no standby was included in the squad for today's game at Edgbaston.

And even when Bell, who moved into the team following Kevin Pietersen's Achilles operation, tweaked an ankle on Monday, England did not send for reinforcements.

Fortunately for the Warwickshire batsman, an injury sustained while playing a warm-up game of football proved to be minor.

But it was probably only a twist away from ruling him out of an Ashes return.

So who would England turn to next?

"Although we haven't named any extra batting cover in the squad, we have several options should the need arise," said chief selector Geoff Miller while declining to name names.

It is not only a new injury that could force England's hand, though.

If Andrew Flintoff is unable to play all of the last three Tests because of his fragile knee, would the hosts really want to face Australia with Matt Prior at No 6 and Stuart Broad at 7?

England batting candidates may be plentiful, as Miller suggests, but none of them are screaming out for an Ashes call-up.

Middlesex's Owais Shah might be first in the queue, considering he played for England only last winter and has recently scored a century for his county.

And then there is the Kent pair of Rob Key and Joe Denly, both of whom are regularly mentioned as possibles.

But the batsman who has scored three big championships hundreds - and in the first division - this season is Bell's Warwickshire team-mate, Jonathan Trott.

England, of course, will be hoping to keep changes to a minimum after the blow of losing Pietersen for the remainder of the series.

"Kevin has been ever present for the last 54 Tests, so it is slightly different not having him here," said captain Andrew Strauss.

"You always miss a guy of that quality - he's a world-class batsman.

"To have him out is a huge disappointment for us but I'm confident Ian Bell will come in and do very well."