Bell exposes England's lack of depth

England's selectors will be forced to pick Ian Bell, who they had discarded five months ago, as a replacement for the injured Kevin Pietersen because the other contenders lack the credentials for a Test berth, says Steve James in the Sunday Telegraph.

Omission from the recent Lions team against Australia would appear to preclude Rob Key and Owais Shah. After a long period of barrenness, Key might have run into some form recently with a double century against glum Glamorgan, but, in truth, it was an innings with more lives than Kitty and, as such, a Christmas card should later this year be on its way to the over-generous umpire Vanburn Holder. And Shah's time in the game's longest format has, quite simply, passed. So too, long ago, Mark Ramprakash's. Joe Denly's – and maybe Stephen Moore's – will come, but not yet, and certainly not out of position in the middle-order. Michael Vaughan's retirement premature? Let's not go there.

While many think Bell will slot in at No. 4, taking Pietersen's place in the order, Simon Wilde writes in the Sunday Times that Bell should be at No. 5 with Paul Collingwood being pushed up.

In the same paper, Martin Johnson ponders Australia's options ahead of the third Test, and writes that it's most likely that the visitors will go in with an unchanged XI.

Vic Marks writes in the Observer that though the spotlight is on Mitchell Johnson's failings (eight wickets at 41) in the series, Peter Siddle's numbers (seven wickets at 44) are just as poor.

In his column in the Sunday Telegraph, Ricky Ponting backs another member of his side who is under a lot of pressure, Phil Hughes, saying: "I feel that he only needs half an hour in the middle and everything will click back into place."

And in the Sunday Independent Stephen Benkley lists some reasons for England to be cautious with three Tests to go - Ravi Bopara's lack of form, the absence of KP, and the fragility of Flintoff - but also points out that the current Australian team isn't a patch on the world-beating ones of the past.