Sidebottom is second Test's surprise pick

Sidebottom, a Yorkshireman now in his fourth season at Nottinghamshire, is a much improved bowler than when he failed to take a wicket in his solitary Test appearance against Pakistan at Lord's six years ago.

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He is also back on the England scene at 29 ahead of Durham's Graham Onions because he has intimate knowledge of the vagaries of Headingley and he offers the variety of bringing a left-armer to the attack.

Just as in 2001, Sidebottom owes his selection to an injury to Matthew Hoggard and will compete with Jimmy Anderson for a place in the side when the match begins in Leeds on Friday.

West Indies are felt to be susceptible to swing and while that is Anderson's greatest weapon, he has been spraying the ball around this season and has gone for more than five an over in his two championship appearances for Lancashire.

Hence the long-haired son of Arnie Sidebottom, who bowls particularly well at left-handers, has every chance of playing.

Whether Andrew Flintoff plays, too, remains a big question. England included him in their 13-man squad with the specific aim of insisting that he bowls in the Headingley nets both today and tomorrow if he is to have any chance of proving his left ankle is strong enough for him to play on Friday.

Flintoff's bowling was acutely missed in the first Test at Lord's and while his inclusion would mean that England have to leave out one of their prolific batsmen, that is a price they will have to pay to bring more depth to the attack.

The man who, on form, should be the batsman to miss out would be captain Michael Vaughan but he will definitely make his first Test appearance for 16 months - as long as he does not suffer another accident before Friday - having recovered from a broken finger.

Owais Shah will make way after his two failures at Lord's.

If Flintoff should make it then Ian Bell or maybe even Andrew Strauss would have to stand down.

That would be harsh on them and put pressure on Vaughan.