Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom Recalled to Bolster the England Heroes of Lord's

At Lord's last Wednesday, just after tea, Ravi Bopara, batting like a dream and having reached 76 by driving Fidel Edwards to the straight boundary with immaculate timing, clipped the next ball languidly off his legs but in the air to square leg. The usually reliable Brendan Nash dropped a simple chance and the thought occurred that this might have been an Ian Bell moment – a beautiful cameo cut short by a moment of ­indolence, followed by a shake of the head en route back to the pavilion, another opportunity thrown away.

It was Bopara's good luck that he survived to make his second Test century and seal the No3 spot for the foreseeable future. Twice now, in successive innings, fortune has favored the brave. Bell, by contrast, has not found things so easy or forgiving this year. In Kingston, it was his abject dismissal shortly before an interval that precipitated the collapse to 51 all out and a humiliating defeat, following which he was jettisoned from the team.

Hindsight suggests that in this he might actually have provided the stimulus for Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss to start the process of introducing a new team ethic founded on responsibility, dedication and desire. His fall had been coming for a while, as his 199 at Lord's last year against South Africa, the innings that appeared to be the making of him, sparked little but an inability to cope with the responsibility of batting first-drop. Only once in a dozen innings since then has he reached 50, and in a position of such authority that is simply inadequate: he had to go.

However, there would always be a way back – the question being, when. Bell is still a young man at 27, with talent but not yet achievement. How long the rehabilitation process should last would always be a dilemma for selectors. A few matches and some cheap runs against mediocre bowling on flat pitches represents little more than a few lines in detention. Expediency, however, has seen his return to the squad for the second Test at Chester-le-Street.

A 1–0 lead in a two-match series demands at least a rethink in strategy, especially when more favourable seam bowling conditions might be expected at the Riverside in mid-May. An extra batsman ought to be considered and, with Michael Vaughan's hamstring injury and Owais Shah gone missing, the options are limited. In the unlikely event he plays against West Indies, Bell would be back at No6, the position where he has made four of his eight Test hundreds.

He will be joined in the squad by Ryan Sidebottom, who last made a Test appearance in Bridgetown in March when, clearly unfit, he produced figures of one for 146. He was sent to the United States for surgery on troublesome achilles tendons and is reported to be bowling pain-free and with vigour for Nottinghamshire.

Sidebottom is central to Flower's Ashes strategy as he can provide incisive bowling and variation as part of a four-man seam attack. Until injury began to restrict his pace and impact – he also has suffered hip and groin problems – Sidebottom pretty much held the England attack together for a year. In 2008 his mismanagement was evident following his selection for the Edgbaston Test after he had missed the previous game at Headingley through injury. It was a massive mistake, compounded by the player's own insistence that he was fit to play. Like The Who, the selectors won't be fooled again.

Sidebottom's presence in Durham will be a mixture of rehabilitation within the squad and as a potential partner for James Anderson, Stuart Broad and, on his home pitch, Graham Onions. The fact that Tim ­ Bresnan did not get a real chance on his Test debut at Lord's does not mean that the team should not evolve. It is a cliche, but the best side for the ­circumstances should always be selected.

The one player not to benefit from the Lord's performance is Monty Panesar, who has been omitted from the squad of 13. The manner in which Graeme Swann has usurped his position as England's leading spinner will have reminded Panesar of the need to develop his game both technically – adapting to the pace of a pitch being the most pressing issue – and mentally, where he must be more than a serf to the ­captain's lord of the manor. He might prosper more when bowling in tandem with, and as second string to, Swann where the responsibility will be much less.

This is a strategy England might employ at grounds such as Cardiff, Edgbaston and Lord's in the Ashes. It was said that Panesar's inclusion in the squad at Lord's was to keep him familiar with the Dukes ball, which is used in Tests here, rather than continue bowling with the Tiflex ball that is being trialled in the second division of the County Championship. His omission for the second Test is much more practical.

"He is unlucky but it was always highly unlikely that he was going to play at the Riverside," said the national selector Geoff Miller.