Phil Tufnell returns from the cold and Leicestershire's Jimmy Ormond gets his first sniff of a cap in England's 14-man squad for the fifth Test at The Oval, starting this Thursday. Tufnell has been by far the best slow bowler in the country this summer, and although he has had a hot-and-cold England career, the hottest spells have come at The Oval, where he teased West Indies to distraction in 1991 and made fools of Mark Taylor's Aussies in 1997. He played throughout Nasser Hussain's first two series as captain, acting as an effective plug-hole, but his Test career appeared to have gone down it when he allegedly incurred the wrath of Duncan Fletcher for his relaxed attitude to punctuality in South Africa in 1999-2000.

Neither he nor Ormond is certain of a place in the final XI. Tufnell will have to elbow aside Robert Croft, who seems to be unable to be discarded however indifferently he performs in home Tests. And although Alan Mullally has pulled out with a side strain, Ormond, 24 today, is one of three young fast bowlers in the squad who are likely to be competing for one place - the others being Alex Tudor and Richard Johnson. Tudor had his first really poor Test at Headingley, but will surely not be dumped so soon after his five-for at Trent Bridge. If Tufnell does play, Ormond will be ruled out by his lack of batting prowess – otherwise Andy Caddick will be at No. 8.

Ormond, tall, floppy-haired, brisk and able to swing the ball out, is highly rated on the county circuit. But not half as highly as Martin Bicknell, who is all those things too and would have been a much better pick for Headingley than the anodyne Mullally. The selectors seem to have decided that Bicknell, despite being a one-man team recently for Surrey, is simply too old to be given the kind of second chance that Mark Butcher has made such good use of. It's a harsh call: Bicknell was born in 1969, the same year as Mark Ramprakash and Craig White.

Ramprakash is retained this time, and so, more unexpectedly, is Usman Afzaal, as Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan are both left to continue their recuperation out of the limelight. Now that Butcher has shown the world how to play Glenn McGrath, England will be looking to Mike Atherton, in what may well be his final Test appearance, to slay his nemesis at last. It may sound improbable, but he managed it at The Oval a year ago, when he made 83 and 108 against Curtly Ambrose, in his final Test.

Full squad Mike Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Alec Stewart (wkt), Alex Tudor, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Phil Tufnell, Robert Croft, James Ormond, Richard Johnson.

Tim de Lisle is editor of Wisden.com

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd