Bell keen to make up for 'hurt'

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National selector Geoff Miller has confirmed that Bell, who has been left out of the last seven Tests, will play in place of the injured Kevin Pietersen as England look to build on the 1-0 lead gained over Australia at Lord's last week.

"When you have played a considerable amount for your country, when you are not there it really hurts. You miss what you used to do a hell of a lot," said Bell. "It was important for me to keep in good form in case there was an injury or someone was showing a lack of form. I had to make sure I was in the best possible form if I got an opportunity."

He added: "You will do everything you can to get back into that team. You are desperate to get back into an England shirt.

"When I got back from the West Indies after the winter tour, I really had to put the Ashes to the back of my mind.

"I had to get the runs in county cricket with Warwickshire to give myself a chance to be part of the Ashes and overall I've done that."

"The message that has come out from England is there is a lot of cricket this summer.

"With the amount of international cricket there is now, it is not just 11 players who are going to win games of cricket for England over a year.

"It is a squad effort. England need a strong squad of players and that is what is starting to happen."

Bell was in the squad for the opening two Tests at Cardiff and Lord's but will now feature in the first eleven while Pietersen recovers from his Achilles problem.