BIRMINGHAM — England captain Alastair Cook has backed Ian Bell to return to form following the veteran batsman's promotion to No. 3 for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Bell, England's most experienced batsman, having made his Test debut 11 years ago, has struggled for runs during the Ashes thus far with scores of one, 60, one and 11 in the first two matches. There had been speculation that, with England repeatedly suffering top-order collapses, Bell might be dropped for the third Test at his Warwickshire home ground starting Wednesday after Australia leveled the five-match series at 1-1 with a crushing 405-run win at Lord's. But despite two failures in the second Test, Bell has been promoted to No. 3 after England dropped Gary Ballance and brought in Jonny Bairstow to bat at five. “He's delighted to be back at three,” Cook said of Bell Tuesday. There had been speculation that the in-form Joe Root might be promoted to No. 3 and opening batsman Cook said: “The selectors would have thrown that around in the meetings. But they decided (to go with) the experience Ian's got in terms of 100-odd Test matches. Belly at three and Rooty at four looks pretty good.” England has a fitness doubt regarding fast bowler Mark Wood, who has a history of ankle trouble, with Steven Finn standing by if the Durham paceman is ruled out. “We're a little bit concerned with Woody and we'll have to make that call tomorrow,” said Cook. Despite the scale of England's defeat at Lord's, Cook backed his side to bounce back at Edgbaston with the team having followed every previous Test defeat they've suffered this year with a win. “It's 1-1, a three-match series now and we need to win two games to do something very special,” said Cook. “That's what is keeping everyone going. Lord's was an absolute disaster in one sense, after Cardiff (where England won the first Test by 169 runs) to play as badly as that. Meanwhile, Peter Nevill has got the nod ahead of Brad Haddin as Australia's wicketkeeper. Captain Michael Clarke said selection chairman Rod Marsh and coach Darren Lehmann had spoken to him about their decision to play Nevill but refused to rule out a possible return for Haddin, 37, in the future. “He's a great man Hadds..I've really loved having him as vice captain and he's performed exceptionally well,” Clarkesaid. “He's still working hard and will now wait for his opportunity whether that be through injury or getting another chance.” Haddin, who has 66 Test caps, played in the opening game in Cardiff but sat out the second match at Lord's for family reasons. That paved the way for Nevill to make his debut in Australia's series-leveling win during which the 29-year-old took seven catches and scored a brisk 45 in the first innings. Clarke said he had yet to speak to Chris Rogers after the opening batsman survived a stiff examination from his bowling team mates in the nets Monday. Rogers, 37, had to retire in the second innings at Lord's after suffering a dizzy spell. Clarke paid tribute to the out-of-form Ian Bell who will move up one place in England's batting order following Gary Ballance's exclusion. Mitchell Johnson heads into Edgbaston needing just one more wicket to become only the fifth Australia bowler to take 300 in Tests. The left-arm fast bowler's 68-Test career has not been one of uninterrupted progress, with Johnson mocked mercilessly by visiting fans when he lost control of both line and length during England's 2010/11 Ashes series win in Australia. But it was a very different story in 2013/14 when he took 37 wickets at under 14 apiece as Australia regained the Ashes with a 5-0 rout of their arch-rivals. Johnson showed signs of that impressive form during the recent second Test at Lord's where he led Australia's pace attack in a 405-run thrashing of England that levelled the five-match Ashes series at 1-1 heading into Wednesday's third Test at Edgbaston. “He's bowling as well as I've seen throughout his career,” said Clarke of Johnson, in line to join Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Dennis Lillee and Brett Lee as the only Australian bowlers to have taken 300 Test wickets. “I've been lucky enough to play with some really fit quicks — you think of Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath,” Clarke said. If the grass covering that was on the pitch at Edgbaston Monday remains intact come the start of Wednesday's match, it should certainly aid Johnson and his fellow Australia quicks. — AgenciesNevill gets the nod
