By Jamie Lillywhite

Bell made two single-figure scores on the recent two-Test tour of India

They had a settled side and a batting line-up which posted a score in excess of 400 on three of the four occasions they batted first against Australia.

But since thrashing a weak West Indies team 3-0 in the home series of 2007, England have only reached 400 twice in 18 Tests.

So when does continuity become inflexibility? And when does a policy of keeping faith with players become a stubborn refusal to give opportunities to others?

Ian Bell appears most at risk if a change is made, having made only 182 runs in 10 innings since his super 199 against South Africa at Lord's last year.

Supporters of Owais Shah, who began the current Caribbean tour with a century in St Kitts, believes his chance to stake a claim for a regular place in the Test team is long overdue.

The 30-year-old marked his Test debut with 88 against India in Mumbai in 2006, but played only one match since, although he has been a regular member of the one-day side.

Former England batsman Graham Thorpe, who averaged 44 over 100 Tests, does not feel Shah is ideally suited to the number three spot which Bell currently occupies.

606: DEBATE I do feel for Shah but we demanded our selectors be consistent through the 90s when England were so poor Bananaman

"Shah is probably hot on his heels. He hasn't had a run at all in Test matches and I feel he deserves one in many ways," Thorpe said.

"That number three position is a bit of a problem because I wouldn't put Shah down as my number three in Test matches.

"I would put him more in a number five role, so I see him competing more for (Paul) Collingwood's position.

"Collingwood has pulled a couple of rabbits out of the hat in the last year, tremendous innings of strength of character, but in between he's been out of form and (Ravi) Bopara is also hovering on the outside."

Thorpe spent most of his career at four or five, although he made a century in Pakistan at three, having been moved there not for ingenious tactical reasons but because Nasser Hussain was indisposed in the lavatory.

"Mentally it's not an easy position to do," he said.

"My two best number threes were Mark Butcher and Robert Key, in terms of how relaxed they appeared, sitting down, happy to have a joke, they're watching the game, they're focusing but seem very relaxed and that's almost what it is.

Shah had a fine debut but after 6 and 4 v West Indies has not played since

"You could be coming in at the most explosive time when the bowlers are at their quickest, so you need to be quite relaxed but with a sharp edge in terms of the minute they cross the line they're able to focus, yet they can't afford to be too tense.

"Nasser did OK though and he was quite a stress-head! He was like a cat on a hot tin roof.

"No-one in this team has really grabbed it yet, Bell's not grabbed it and Shah I see as more middle order, but it's down to those two this winter.

"Shah has a tendency to open up a little bit and right at the top of the order where the ball is at its hardest and there is more seam movement so in some ways his fantastic hand-eye co-ordination doesn't always favour number three at international level.

"Bell is a talented player, what I sometimes feel is that he needs a bit more 'mongrel' in him, more fighting attitude if he's going to do it.

"He always looks very good on the eye, but in some ways he sometimes reminds me of someone making his debut over again, and he's played about 45 Tests, he doesn't really dominate the situation."

I feel Bell needs to deliver on this tour to put forward a case for playing against Australia Graham Thorpe

Thorpe believes former England skipper Michael Vaughan still has "a lot to offer" at three and that Kent skipper Rob Key, who scored a superb 221 against the West Indies at Lord's in 2004, is also well suited to the role.

"I've always thought he (Key) has been very unlucky as an England player. After he went to South Africa which was my last tour 2004, I thought he had a fantastic mentality for Test match batting," Thorpe observed.

"You'll hear Shane Warne say they have always respected him in Australia. He stood up to the pace bowling and also dealt with Warne."

If neither Bell nor Shah makes an unanswerable case in the next four matches, maybe Key's claims will be considered afresh by the selectors.

For now, however, Thorpe believes the 'stick with what we know' approach will continue to work in Bell's favour.

"I can't really see an immediate change being made. Ian Bell, I see him not quite in the last-chance saloon, but he certainly has it all to do.

"I feel Bell needs to deliver on this tour to put forward a case for playing against Australia."

With the first Ashes Test only six months away, the heat really is on - and not just because England are in the Caribbean.

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