Vaughan back at helm as Sidebottom gets shock call

Michael Vaughan is set to play his first Test in 18 months after coming through a fitness test on his broken finger yesterday. Vaughan will captain England against the West Indies in the second Test, which starts on Friday, providing he does not suffer any further setbacks, which cannot be ruled out when his appalling fitness record and the unpredictable net facilities at Headingley are taken into consideration.

The news on Andrew Flintoff, who batted at a specially organised practice session yesterday but failed to bowl, was less encouraging. Flintoff was named in the 13-man squad but it is difficult to work out why. The selectors are no wiser about the state of his left ankle and there are no guarantees he can get through a Test in which he may be expected to bowl 40 overs.

David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said: "We will need to assess Andrew's fitness over the next 48 hours and our plan is for him to bowl in practice on consecutive days to see if there is any further reaction to his ankle injury."

Flintoff's selection highlights England's concern over their fast bowling, which was disappointing in the drawn first Test. Headingley traditionally offers assistance to quicker bowlers, and England may be tempted to play Flintoff even though he is not 100 per cent fit. Matthew Hoggard's thigh strain has ruled him out and the selectors may feel a 70 per cent Flintoff is more likely to pitch it on a testing length than a fully fit Stephen Harmison or Liam Plunkett.

Owais Shah, following two low scores at Lord's, makes way for Vaughan while James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom will contest the place left by Hoggard. Anderson is expected to play but Sidebottom deserves a chance to compete for a second Test cap.

Sidebottom, the son of Arnie, the former Yorkshire and England bowler, is an aggressive left-arm seamer. He made his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord's in 2001 and travelled with the one-day side to Zimbabwe later that year, but has not played international cricket since. During this period Sidebottom has become one of the most consistent English fast bowlers in county cricket, taking 221 wickets for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at an average of 25.26.

England (from): MP Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), AJ Strauss (Middlesex), AN Cook (Essex), IR Bell (Warwickshire), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), A Flintoff (Lancashire), MJ Prior (Sussex, wkt), SJ Harmison (Durham), LE Plunkett (Durham), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire), JM Anderson (Lancashire), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire).