Nineteen-year-old Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell has been called up to the England squad as cover for the injured Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain. Butcher and Hussain suffered hand injuries in England's first Test win at Christchurch. Butcher cracked a bone and is out of the second Test at Wellington, which begins on Thursday, although he has not yet been ruled out of the entire series. And while Hussain expects to play despite a jarred middle finger on his right hand, the situation is serious enough for England not to take any chances.

Bell has been tipped as a future Test player for many years, and received rave reviews at Rod Marsh's Academy this winter, although after only 13 first-class matches, his call-up is a slight surprise.

"We're trying to move away from the old statement that you need to play four years of county cricket to qualify for selection," the chairman of selectors David Graveney said.

"When he was with England Under-19 in New Zealand, he was regarded as the most outstanding player of that age they had ever seen. Duncan Fletcher wants the option of an extra batsman and he could easily play on Thursday."

Bell himself was caught completely unawares by the call-up. "I got the call from David Graveney at 8.30 this morning," he told BBC Sport Online. "It was completely unexpected and all my thoughts were on getting ready for the forthcoming county season.

"I was expecting to be spending the next three weeks in the nets at Warwickshire so it's quite a nice change.

"I wasn't given any clue if I will be playing in the next Test or not - I was just told to get on the plane.

"It is a great opportunity for me to mix with the England players and get used to the set-up."

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