Trott reveals Giles role

Warwickshire batsman Trott, 28, has been confirmed as a debutant for the npower series decider against Australia, starting at The Oval on Thursday. Giles, one of England's triumphant XI at the end of the equivalent fixture four years ago, is now an England selector. But it is the forward planning he carried out as Warwickshire's director of cricket in 2007 for which Trott is most grateful.

"We sat down when he was appointed as head coach and set out a plan for the future, compiled a list of my strong points and my weak points, and that gave me a direction of how to get back into the (England) team," said Trott, whose previous two international appearances, against West Indies in Twenty20 matches also came at The Oval.

"I am not saying I am a different person now but I do approach the game a bit differently. It seems to be working because I have been pretty successful."

Trott scored 1,240 runs at an average of 62 in Division Two of the County Championship in 2008 and has been even more prolific so far this year with 1,046 first-class runs at an average in excess of 80.

That form has led to his England chance, something he would not have dreamed of as a boy growing up in Cape Town.

"I listened to Test Match Special and watched Ashes matches a lot on television when I was growing up," he recalled. "I remember Shane Warne's first delivery in Ashes cricket in 1993 vividly. Obviously 2005 was a great advert for the game and The Oval is set up for a similar finish."

Other than Trott's promotion to replace Ravi Bopara in the England team - he was in the fourth Test squad a fortnight ago but did not play - the selectors ignored other calls for change in the aftermath of an innings defeat to Australia at Headingley.

Bopara's spot in the 14-man squad was taken by left-arm spinner Monty Panesar as England attempted to maximise attacking options for a must-win contest.

National selector Geoff Miller said: "The final Test match is an absolutely vital game for the team with so much at stake and we have had to make some difficult selection decisions in choosing our squad for The Brit Oval. Ravi Bopara has been going through a tough time with the bat in this series and we have decided to leave him out of the squad for this game. He will be extremely disappointed but remains very much part of our plans for the future."