England squad for the 2nd Test

Suddenly the squad is looking threadbare, especially in the bowling department with Harmison and Plunkett struggling to say the least. But I'd go for:

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Collingwood
Bell
Prior
Flintoff
Plunkett
Harmison
Panesar
Anderson

Anderson likely to be the one to be left out unless they think that Flintoff can't bowl as part of a 4 strong attack as he may break down, in which case Anderson would play. Or if they were really bold and played 5 bowlers, Strauss could be the unlucky one. Harmison and Plunkett have bowled some excellent balls, indispersed with some rubbish. Given the scarcity of bowling resources (as there really doesn't seem to be anyone knocking on the door), they have to be given another chance to get things right.

There has been some talk about Vaughan needing to get runs for Yorkshire before coming back in. That would be a wrong move surely? Even if he bags a pair, he's probably about 40 runs better than Strauss and Flintoff in terms of tactics per innings, so he's worth his place on that basis alone.

Here's a little prediction for you. England's top 6 by the end of this season could be:

Vaughan
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior

with 5 bowlers making up the rest of the selection. Watch this space - in some ways I hope I'm wrong because Strauss is quality and he has been so unlucky with decisions over last winter. Bopara is scoring runs for Essex though, so if he carries on doing that he's going to get his chance eventually....