Chris Tremlett, who came into England's 14-man NatWest Series squad as cover for Simon Jones, looks set to replace Kabir Ali.England NatWest Challenge squad: (probable): M P Vaughan (c), M E Trescothick, A J Strauss, K P Pietersen, A Flintoff, P D Collingwood, G O Jones, A F Giles, S P Jones, D Gough, S J Harmison, V S Solanki, C T Tremlett, J Lewis, I D Blackwell.. The Welsh international Craig Bellamy is poised to reject a move to Celtic after he held lengthy talks with the Everton manager David Moyes last night. Bellamy is due to return to pre-season training with Newcastle this morning, even though he will be made to train with the youth team and will not be considered for selection in the Intertoto Cup campaign. The Newcastle manager, Graeme Souness, has refused to entertain the idea of a reconciliation with the 25-year-old, who was sent on loan to Celtic last season after a bitter row with the Scot over his best position. But it looks as though Bellamy's return to Tyneside will be a fleeting one, as long as Everton can match his £45,000-a-week wages.Everton are willing to meet Newcastle's £6m asking price for Bellamy. The England captain will also be in control of when he wants to employ 10 of the 20 overs when fielding restrictions apply."Every aspect of the new rule changes is going to be interesting," Fletcher said. After the first 15 overs captains didn't have to think but now they do."It will be fascinating to see which type of cricketer is used as the substitute, and the change has caused England to add a 15th member to their squad. "Selection will be very difficult, and implementing the substitute, or when to use the fielding restrictions, will become very tricky This makes it very exciting.
But it is on flat pitches where these two come into their own, and the bounce they extract will continue to unsettle Australia.Honours could not have been shared more evenly during the NatWest Series, but the teams will play three further limited-over matches before the Ashes.The NatWest Challenge, which starts on Thursday at Headingley, will offer one of these teams the opportunity to gain a psychological advantage before the first Test, and the side which achieves this could be the one that makes the most of the new regulations.England will announce its 15-man squad this morning and on Thursday Michael Vaughan will be able to call on the services of a substitute. Harmison and Andrew Flintoff have been outstanding throughout the tournament, and Australia's batsmen will not be relishing the prospect of facing this pair in the Ashes series.Both are uncomplicated, with a simple method. They make the most of their height - each is over 6ft 5in - and attempt to hit a good length hard. In conditions like those on Saturday, any half-decent fast bowler should have been a handful. We also saw an Australian batter protecting a team-mate from the strike, and some of their guys showing concern about the lines and lengths our bowlers were bowling."Privately, Fletcher may have worries about the form of England's top order, but he has every right to feel optimistic about the bowling.
It was interesting to see the Australians in huddles trying to make decisions, which we haven't seen before. In the Tests there is no limit to the number of overs McGrath can bowl, and Australia have a certain leg-spinner to come on and make the most of his early work, but credit should go to Geraint Jones and Paul Collingwood, who changed the course of the game with a superb 116-run partnership.In demanding circumstances, the pair battled hard and kept their cool. We could and probably should have won the final, but we also didn't lose it, and that was pretty crucial considering our record against Australia in the last four or five games."It was also important to see little aspects of their cricket changing We won little battles out there. "I believe we have bowled really well but the most pleasing thing is that we have managed to recover from situations that we previously would not have got out of against Australia This is a huge positive.