In the past, the announcement of England's first Test squad of the summer was the source of much idle gossip and speculation. Central contracts have put an end to that, and though James Foster's broken arm and Darren Gough's dodgy knee have created a couple of vacancies this time, there is still relatively little for the selectors to discuss when they sit down to pick their team to take on Sri Lanka at Lord's next Thursday. The top five (Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe) pick themselves - even though they only managed 16 runs between them on the first day of the latest round of County Championship matches. Ian Bell, the next big thing, is favourite to win the sixth batting spot, although Hampshire's John Crawley has had a storming start to life at the Rose Bowl, and he belted an unbeaten 156 at The Oval in Sri Lanka's last Test in England, in 1998.

Similarly Andrew Flintoff, Andy Caddick, Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles are shoo-ins, along with one other fast bowler: Gough if fit, Alex Tudor or Steve Harmison if not. If the selectors want a form horse, however, they need look no further than the country's leading wicket-taker before the current round of matches. Dominic Cork - remember him? - has been in the runs too, and he does like it at Lord's.

That leaves just the wicketkeeping conundrum, which should come down to three: Alec Stewart, Warren Hegg and Glamorgan youngster Mark Wallace, with honourable mentions for Chris Read and Paul Nixon. Hegg is unlikely to get the gloves. At 34 he is no long-term prospect, and if England are going to go for an ageing stopgap, Stewart is an infinitely superior batsman.

Wallace is an intriguing option. He made his maiden first-class hundred against Derbyshire this season, and is said to have greatly impressed Rod Marsh at the ECB Academy. But to pick him would mean blooding two 20-year-olds - presuming Bell plays - and that would be dangerous against this side. Sri Lanka are no pushovers, and have won their last nine Tests. It would be ironic if, at the start of Sri Lanka's first full series in England, the old colonial arrogance that kept them to one-off Tests for so long resurfaced in the selection of two novices.

The only issue then is who to leave out of the XII. Giles will be in the squad for the sake of continuity, but Lord's in May is no place for spinners. Last year, Pakistan even left Saqlain Mushtaq out; the year before Chris Schofield played but didn't bowl. The only spinner to get a Test wicket at Lord's in May is Zimbabwe's Brian Murphy, and that was England's No. 10 Gough.

If England do omit Giles, it will allow them to play four seamers and test to the full Sri Lanka's suspected fragility against the moving ball. And it will also allow a fearsome batting line-up, with Stewart at No. 7 and Flintoff, fresh from biffing 137 off 106 balls against Surrey, the stuff of bowlers' nightmares at No. 8.

The alternative is to leave out Bell and play Giles, with Stewart at No. 6 at Flintoff at 7, which would afford a balanced side including four seamers and the spinner. But in the last Test at Auckland Giles only bowled two overs, and in the last Test in India - at Bangalore - Richard Dawson did not bowl at all. Balance for the sake of it would be self-defeating. What's the point of picking a specialist spinner who's unlikely to bowl?

England (possible)
1 Michael Vaughan, 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Alec Stewart (wk), 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Alex Tudor or Darren Gough, 10 Andrew Caddick, 11 Matthew Hoggard. 12th man: Ashley Giles.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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