Ryan ten Doeschate / Editor / 19 August 2009 / Leave a comment

The Essex all-rounder discusses the selection of Jonathan Trott and weighs up England's chances in the Ashes decider at the Oval...

"While Australia surely have the momentum I think England can bounce back, refreshed after a 10-day break and with a new look batting line-up including Andrew Flintoff."

The Ashes resume on Thursday after a break which couldn't have come at a better time for the home team.

Hopefully, England have had enough time to shake off the performance at Headingley and it will be brilliant if both teams are at their best for this Series decider at The Oval.

It was inevitable that changes would be made and while it was generally accepted that Ravi Bopara would be the fall guy it was not so obvious who would replace him. In the end Jonathan Trott has been rewarded for a fantastic summer for Warwickshire and the selectors are going with the form player for this one-off match.

But, at the same time, I don't think there would have been much surprise if Mark Ramprakash or Rob Key had been given the nod instead of Trotty.

Ravi's omission was a 50/50 call for me. He has had a tough Series and while he certainly hasn't delivered his best cricket, he has not looked out of his depth. His confidence has taken a slight knock and I can see why the selectors have left him out.

But, then again, how big could the benefits gained by him playing and succeeding at The Oval have been? He is generally acknowledged as a supremely gifted batsman and only recently scored three successive Test hundreds. He's been earmarked as a top-order batsman who could play for the next 10 years and the possibility of looking beyond his Series stats and backing him for The Oval test could have fast-tracked his role as a reliable Test batsman.

We all know that modern sport demands immediate results and England do not have the luxury of delaying success. The selectors obviously feel that Rav is not the best man to do the best job at this exact time. It's interesting that Ian Bell will bat at No 3 and the debutant Trott will slot in at No 4. It's a huge match to make your debut in but Trotty can take heart from his brilliant form and the fact that it should be a good batting surface at The Oval.

While I'm disappointed for Rav it's obviously great to have him back at Essex. Both him and Cooky were fantastic in their approach last week and as it turned out both had a major part in our win at Lord's. We chased 245 on the last afternoon to give us a much-needed win and keep our promotion chances alive. The target was seen as generous by some but Middlesex, like ourselves, are in position where you sometimes need to gamble for a win and we've often been in their shoes where we put ourselves up against it to try grind out a win.

Today we start against Surrey at Colchester, one of our festival grounds. We haven't taken advantage of these matches, which are generally played on 'result' pitches, and this week's match is the ideal chance to put that right. If we can go on a little run of wins we will be in a good position to challenge for promotion going into September. Hopefully Ramps will be slightly subdued after all the fuss about his re-selection. He's the toughest batsman on the circuit and we'll need to work him over quickly if we want to walk away with a win this week.

But, back on the main stage, I'm really excited by what the Oval Test has in store as the final showpiece of yet another marvellous Ashes series. While Australia surely have the momentum I think England can bounce back, refreshed after a 10-day break and with a new look batting line-up including Andrew Flintoff back. However, reverse swing may make a late appearance so I wouldn't be surprised if the Aussies see Brett Lee as their major weapon in this case.

There are sure to be some epic battles to conclude and decide this series but I'm banking on Big Fred to sign off with a bang and lead England to another famous Ashes win.

Tags: Andrew Flintoff, Ashes betting, Australia cricket betting, England Cricket betting, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara