blog:England drops Bopara, bring in Trott for Ashes finale
England will give Warwickshire opener Jonathan Trott a Test debut against Australia at The Oval next week as they seek to reverse the horrors of Headingley by pulling off a victory to regain the Ashes.
Essex batsman Ravi Bopara is the only batsman to be dropped from the squad. Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell will take his place at No.3, the Guardian reports.
The England selectors have said that they felt that Bopara’s form and confidence had deteriorated sufficiently for him to be jettisoned for the fifth Test.
England’s coach, Andy Flower said: “Every batsman has been through a run of low scores and he (Bopara) hasn’t managed to really get in and show what he is made of in this series.”
“It’s a tough situation for him, but he is a pretty calm bloke, so he’s keeping it in perspective,” Flower added.
After a week of fervent speculation, there is no place for Surrey’s Mark Ramprakash or Kent opener Rob Key, both of whom are among the top scorers in English county cricket.
Flower and captain Andrew Strauss told the selectors that sweeping changes to the middle-order would play into Australia’s hands by indicating that England had lost faith in their entire Ashes strategy.