BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | England's batting options

England's injury crisis has reached yet another flashpoint.

John Crawley may not recover in time for the third Test and even if Michael Vaughan's shoulder is OK by then, there is thin cover in the batting department.

England fear for Vaughan

It could be that yet another extra is roped into the cast, with Craig White, Alex Tudor and Chris Silverwood already having been supplemented.

Here, BBC Sport Online considers the candidates.

Old hands

Mark Ramprakash may average just 27.32 in Test cricket overall, but his record against Australia is 933 runs in 12 matches.

He was considered by some to be unlucky to miss selection to the initial party.

Leading candidates

Mark Ramprakash

Robert Key

Nick Knight

Usman Afzaal

Ian Ward

Owais Shah

Andrew Strauss

David Fulton

Graeme Hick

Darren Maddy

If England feel that Ramprakash's time has passed, the same could also be true of Nick Knight, who has never faced Australia but has rarely looked at home in the five-day game.

Knight has, though, hit 1520 runs for County Championship runners-up Warwickshire this season and as a left-hander could be seen as a like-for-like replacement.

Graeme Hick's star waned after poor tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka 18 months ago, but his sheer weight of runs at county level means he cannot be left off a list this wide-ranging.

Tried but untested

If Championship form is taken into account, then Ian Ward, whose 1708 runs were key to Surrey's title charge, must have a chance.

Ward failed in three Tests against Australia last summer, and the selectors will need reassuring that a technical flaw has been ironed out.

Usman Afzaal
Afzaal's aggression brought mixed success last summer

Owais Shah was a late call-up to the one-day side in Sri Lanka and has only been used in limited-overs cricket so far, and even then on the fringes.

But now could be the time to find out whether he sinks or swims at Test level.

Usman Afzaal looked to have burned his bridges in New Zealand when he was criticised for being unfit.

But the aggression that saw him make a surprise debut against Australia last year, including a half-century in his third match, could again count in his favour.

Remember Darren Maddy's first incarnation as a Test batsman, when he managed 46 runs in four innings against New Zealand and South Africa?

It would appear that the selectors have forgiven the Leicestershire man as his name was touted as a possible replacement for Andrew Flintoff last month.

Young guns

Two youngsters who have impressed over the last 12 months have both been ruled out of contention through injury.

Ian Bell has a stress fracture in his back and Warwickshire team-mate Jim Troughton shin splints.

Andrew Strauss
Strauss impressed with the England Academy
Another, Ian Blackwell, who made a massive impression for England in Sri Lanka, has done less to impress in the first-class game.

Approaching 31, David Fulton is hardly in his first flush, but he has followed a breakthough 2001 with another solid campaign for Kent, including 1166 runs and three centuries.

Another county captain tipped for greater things is Middlesex's South African-born Andrew Strauss, who spent last winter at the Academy.

His 985 runs this term are mitigated by a broken jaw, which kept him out for the final month.