Time has come for Paul Collingwood to stand up and be counted

England have promoted Collingwood and Ian Bell, who has also struggled, to three and four in the order and given Jonathan Trott the No5 position.

While there will be sympathy for Trott among England fans if the Test debutant fails, the same cannot be said for Collingwood and Bell, who have 100 Test appearances between them.

Both experienced cricketers really need to deliver in south London during a match that really matters but Aussie spin legend Warne has wasted no time tearing into Collingwood ahead of the biggest match of his career.

Warne believes the Durham man "has been looking after himself rather than the team", and has accused him of not showing the responsibility required of a senior player - particularly his acceptance of a place at No5 in the batting order.

He added: "Young batsmen should be eased into a side. Look at Australia where [rookie] Marcus North is at six and the senior guys are above him. If Ravi Bopara had been at No5 he might have had a chance.

"After Andrew Strauss, Collingwood is England's senior batsman and he's been hiding at No5. He owes England a match-winning hundred - perhaps then he'll deserve the MBE he collected for scoring 7 and 10 four years ago."

Of course, Collingwood baiting has become one of Warne's favourite hobbies since the Durham man was part of the side that reclaimed the Ashes at The Oval in 2005, and his comments in The Times today will come as little surprise - but there could be an element of truth to his jibes.

When it comes to Collingwood's Test career, the axe never seems to be far away. He was a hero at Cardiff, with his second innings half-century going a long way towards helping England to secure a vital draw.

But since then he has scored 87 runs in five innings while his opposite number, Michael Clarke, can boast two centuries and a near miss of 93.

If Trott makes a decent fist of Test cricket, Kevin Pietersen comes storming back and Ravi Bopara responds to Ashes failure by building a mountain of runs for Essex, the heat on Collingwood could be unbearable unless he stands tall at the Oval.

The same could be said for Bell. Brought back into the side after the Second Test because of Pietersen's Achilles injury, Leeds was another low point during a career that has so far failed to deliver anything like as much as it has promised.

But as far as England captain Andrew Strauss is concerned, both men have what it takes to come through with flying colours.

"I like Collingwood's tenacity at No 4 and in big games you always expect a lot of your senior players. And Bell is a class act. He played exceptionally well at Edgbaston (scoring 53 in the Third Test) and I think he will play well again here," said Strauss.

"He is a maturing character. Although he hasn't set the world on fire at No3 he has played some important innings for us. And he is a class Test match batsman - you don't average 40 without being that.

"He's good against pace, he's good against spin and this is a fantastic opportunity for him to showcase his talents."