Spotlight falls on middle England for third Test

London: It is enough to get Shane Warne licking his lips in anticipation at what insults he can throw from the commentary box. For there, making up the England middle order in the pivotal Test of the Ashes series, will be his three least favourite cricketers.

Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood have all felt the force of Warne's tongue as much as his superlative bowling over the years, mainly for having the temerity to answer him back.

Now they will carry a nation's hopes at Edgbaston tomorrow in the third Test as they defend a 1-0 series lead. The spotlight, and pressure, will be very much on middle England.

Andrew Strauss, the England captain, confirmed Sportsmail's exclusive of a week ago that Bell will be a direct replacement against Australia for the injured Kevin Pietersen at No 4, where the temperament that has been questioned at the highest level will be severely tested. It is something of a surprise because it seemed as though Bell would slot in at No 5 with Collingwood, the proven fighter of the three, promoted to No 4.

But England clearly want to put faith in a man who, revealingly, has a better record the further down the order he bats. At No 6, Bell has been a world-beater, scoring four of his eight Test centuries, but he gets giddier the higher he goes. "What a great opportunity this is for Bell to prove what a class player he is," insisted Strauss yesterday. "He can also clear up any misgivings people may have about his record against Australia.

"I'm very excited he's back. He's had to dig pretty deep to get back into the team, he's done everything right, and I'm sure he'll be desperate to take his chance."

It is a glowing reference and one that Bell must now justify. In 10 Ashes Tests he has failed to score a century and averages just 25.

But Bell must be transformed this week into the classy strokemaker who has flourished against all bar the oldest enemy, a point he was keen to make on Monday.

"I've played well against all the countries I've faced except Australia," said Bell, 27. "I know that. But this is a different Australian team to the one I played in the past. Cricket is a stats game and I've got some stats to improve on."