Kent's national service

Ian Bell is a talented batsman but he has rarely been comfortable at Test level. A decent average of just above 40 masks the fact that he has performed so moderately against the Australians (10 Tests, average 25) and that he rarely scores important centuries - except when the opposition is Pakistan, against whom he has four tons. There will have been plenty of England supporters, therefore, who were less than joyous when the decision to recall him for the third Ashes Test match at Edgbaston was made.

How much greater would have been their chagrin if only they had known what Frank Woolley's Ghost can now reveal - that England have not won a home Ashes series without a Kent player since at least the start of the 20th century? In 2005, there was Geraint Jones - you have to then go back to 1985 for the last home England win, which was inspired by 'Lion of Ashford' Richard Ellison. In '81 Graham Dilley played a key role having seen his Kent colleagues Bob Woolmer, Alan Knott and Derek Underwood shine in 1977. Eearlier that decade England had retained the Ashes in 1972 with Knott, Underwood and Brian Luckhurst playing their part.

It was 16 years before that that England had last won the Ashes at home, with Colin Cowdrey and Godfrey Evans in the side. That pair also featured in 1953, while before the war the great man himself - Frank Woolley - and Percy Chapman (pictured above) were in the '26 team. Woolley had also played in 1912 while the 1905 series win saw a solitary performance from Cockney spinning genius Charlie Bylthe.

It is just about conceivable that I've missed an Ashes home victory out that didn't include any Kent players, but let's discount that possibility. It is absolutely essential that the England selectors convene at the earliest possible opportunity and find a way to squeeze Robert Key into the team for Headingley, perhaps after Ravi Bopara fails in Brum. If not Key, then Joe Denly. He might be a wee bit easier to fit in.