"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 England new boy Jonathan Trott.

"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."

"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."

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 and I am sure that he has the talent and temperament to regain his place in the side.

"Ian Bell will bat at three next week, which is a position he has occupied for England before, and we were delighted to see both him and Jonathan make centuries for Warwickshire this week."