England can win without Jones

England will no doubt miss the ability of Simon Jones to get reverse swing. The Glamorgan paceman carved his way through the Australian batting card at times and the tourists were glad to see the back of him at The Oval.

However, one of England's strengths of recent years is the competition for places. That's hard to believe considering the fact that England only used twelve players during The Ashes. But England have not had to worry about about players not performing necessarily.

England have a few batsmen and bowlers, not in the team at the minute, that could fit in to the side with minimum fuss.

As far as batsmen go the recent replacement for Jones has a good chance to stake a claim.

Paul Collingwood has been in good form with the bat for Durham this year and has been banging on the door with Warwickshire's Ian Bell under immense pressure to score runs.

Scores of 7 and 10 in The Oval test match may not seem like setting the world alight, but it must be remembered that his first innings decision was unlucky. As for his second innings, he dug in to provide a great foil for Kevin Pietersen on his way to 158. He took up valuable time that cost the Australians.

Robert Key is another good batsmen with international pedigree and his form in the England team has generally been good. His problem is that a promising batch of youngsters now at the academy may push him down the pecking order.

Alistair Cook has been a revelation at Essex this year even putting the Aussies to the sword with a magnificant double century. Irishman Ed Joyce turned his attention to playing for England and his average with the bat makes a good case should a place arise. The problem is there is only one space that anyone is debating.

The biggest problem is that whoever comes in will have to rach the standards of their well established peers.

In the bowling department, many commentators were debating whether James Anderson could jump into the void left by Simon Jones and could be the reason behind the choice of an extra batsmen to defend a series lead.

However, the issue can't be easily avoided and David Graveney may have to make a tough decision.

James Anderson has taken plenty of wickets for Lancashire and would look to be the obvious choice. He also has the ability to swing the ball and international experience.

Chris Tremlett is battling against injury therefore the other option would be Liam Plunkett of Durham.

What comes with all three is the ability to take regular wickets and cause batsmen problems. It's a nice problem to have though if you're an England selector because England sides of years gone by haven't been so fortunate.

Even without Jones England are still in a position of strength and should fancy a series win in Pakistan.