Nick Knight is precisely the right man for this occasion, not least because he will recognise the situation and thrive in it.

Nasser Hussain is expected to miss only one Test match through his broken thumb, although he has also been ruled out of the forthcoming NatWest triangular one-day tournament.

His replacement is on a hiding to nothing.

Clearly, this is not the right environment in which to introduce a youngster.

The selectors did consider bringing in one of the 'new breed' - Usman Afzaal and Owais Shah were both in the reckoning.

Knight was batting at number six and Hussain, again, was sitting out the match with a broken thumb!

Knight then proceeded to break a finger while fielding in the slips and had to pull out of the one-day series resulting in the last-minute call-up of a certain Marcus Trescothick.

The rest, as they say, is history and Knight's unfortunate injury did England a monumental favour.

It is hard not to feel sorry for Ryan Sidebottom. He will be on alert in case of any injuries that might hit the bowlers between now and Thursday.

If anything will drive him on to greater things, it will be the desire for him and his father Arnie to be spared the dubious honour of being the first father and son both to have played only once for England.

Ryan did not bowl too badly at Lord's.

But, like the other left arm seamers who have been selected in recent times, there will be doubts about his ability either to swing the ball into the right handed batsman, or his pace.

As for the final shake-up, it seems clear that England will play only four bowlers which rules out the possibility of Cork batting at number seven.

Which four will eventually make it onto the park remains to be seen, but the final choice will probably be between Hoggard and Croft.