Alec Stewart looks set to drop down the order at Headingley as England revert to their policy of fielding seven batsmen and four bowlers.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney has indicated that Stewart is likely to bat at seven in order to shepherd the tail.

And Graveney has hinted that Nottinghamshire's Usman Afzaal and even Kent's David Fulton could come into the reckoning as England seek to avoid a 5-0 Ashes whitewash.

In the Third Test at Trent Bridge England went into the game with five bowlers, though Craig White and Robert Croft bowled only five overs between them. And with England only totalling 347 runs in their two innings, there is clearly a need to bolster the batting.

Graveney said: "I haven't seen the Headingley wicket yet, but going on past history I'd say it's more than likely that we'll play seven batsmen and four bowlers. Alec will probably move to number seven as I think he bats better with the tail."

It is unlikely that England would play a spinner at Headingley so Croft would be left out. It is certain that Alex Tudor, after his stirring performance in the Australian first innings at Trent Bridge, will play, leaving a question of who would be fourth seamer.

It may be that Craig White, despite a series of disappointing performances, will be picked in front of his home crowd though county collleague Chris Silverwood could get the nod. And waiting in the wings is Alan Mullally who nudged the selectors this week by taking eight Warwickshire wickets.

As far as the batting is concerned, much depends on the injury situation. Nasser Hussain is currently playing for Essex seconds and so will presumably be fit enough to resume the captaincy. But a decision on Graham Thorpe's fitness has still to be made and Michael Vaughan, after declaring himself fit, was not picked by Yorkshire so would be unlikely to be considered for the Test.

If Thorpe is fit then Ian Ward and Mark Ramprakash must fear for their places while Usman Afzaal could well come back into the reckoning.

Graveney told cricnet.com, the Professional Cricketers' Association website: "Injuries continue to be a problem. With Hussain, Thorpe and Vaughan all trying to get fit, they are still short of match practice.

"Virgil (Vaughan) has not played for six weeks and so it would be unfair on him to throw him in straight away. If they were all fit it would only be wise to play two out of the three of them. The good news is that we think Nasser will be okay and as the England captain, we need him at the helm."

Graveney added: "We have been dragging Usman Afzaal all over the country with us and he has scored lots of runs in between times.

"Dave Fulton will also be hard to ignore with the weight of runs he has scored. But this would be a one off scenario, because, barring any other setbacks, we would expect all three contracted batsmen to be fit for the Oval.

"We will also be looking at a longer-term option in Ben Hollioake or Andy Flintoff who have done pretty much all we asked of them this season. Whilst they may not be an obvious `batting only' choice on their county statistics, I think everyone realises their potential and to play at number six and back up the other bowlers could work well."

The squad for Headingley will be announced on Sunday.

Possible squad: Hussain, Atherton, Trescothick, Thorpe, Butcher, Ramprakash, Ward, Afzaal, Stewart, White, Tudor, Caddick, Gough, Silverwood.

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