Mark Butcher: out of the second Test against West Indies © Getty Images Enlarge

England's selectors have been saved one tricky decision ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston with the news that Mark Butcher will not be available to play because of a thigh injury.

Butcher, 31, missed the first Test at Lord's after suffering whiplash in a car accident only days before the match. However, he had also been doubtful with a sore thigh, and he made the injury worse while lifting a box at his home on Sunday. As a result, he was not named in the squad for the next Test.

However, Butcher's misfortune is Robert Key's gain. Key scored 221 in the first innings at Lord's, an innings which paved the way for England's comfortable win, and he will keep his place at No. 3.

James Anderson, who missed out in the starting XI for the first Test, is again included in the squad, and he may replace Simon Jones, who took just the one wicket at Lord's.

Squad for second Test
Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Robert Key, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.