England add Sidebottom and Bell to Test squad
LONDON: England added batsman Ian Bell and left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom to their squad on Sunday as they named a 13-man party for the second Test against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street starting on Thursday.
Bell and Sidebottom were the only additions to the team that thrashed the West Indies by 10 wickets at Lord's on Friday.
Monty Panesar, who was in the 12-man first Test squad before being left out on the morning of the match, was omitted from this latest squad after fellow spinner Graeme Swann produced a man-of-the-match display at Lord's. Bell was dropped after England's Test defeat against the West Indies in Jamaica three months ago.
And he lost out on the No 3 position at Lord's to Ravi Bopara, who made a Test-best 143. Bell though has been in fine early season form for Warwickshire and offers England an extra batting option ahead of the final match of a two-Test series.
Sidebottom, whose tour of the West Indies was cut short by an Achilles tendon injury, could, if selected, prove effective on a Riverside ground with a reputation for assisting seamers.
"Both Bell and Sidebottom have been in form in the early part of the season and have been a part of the England set-up in recent years," said England national selector Geoff Miller in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement on Sunday. "Ryan Sidebottom has recovered from surgery after the Caribbean tour and reports that he is now bowling pain-free.
"The inclusion of Bell and Sidebottom in the squad gives the selectors, the coach and the captain several options going into this game," the former England off-spinner added. "Monty Panesar is unlucky but it was always highly unlikely that we would play two spinners at Chester-le-Street."
Victory at Lord's, with more than two days to spare, meant England - beaten 1-0 in a five-match campaign in the Caribbean - had won the first Test of a series for the first time in 15 attempts.
England squad: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wicket-keeper), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions, Ian Bell, Ryan Sidebottom.
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