It would take a Roald Dahl-like imagination to think that conditions in Durham this week could get any more inhospitable for West Indies than they were at Lord’s. Clearly, though, the selectors believe that to be a possibility, given that they have responded to the utterly one-sided nature of the first Test by tinkering with the squad for the second, which starts on Thursday. Out goes Monty Panesar and in come Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell.

Given that the selectors have decided to keep things interesting, rather than go down the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” route, it is the names that Geoff Miller, the national selector, did not mention, rather than those he did, that bring cause for comment. No Michael Vaughan, now hamstrung as well as out of form, no Owais Shah and no place for Stephen Harmison on his home ground.

None of those three can have cause for complaint on form, but in Vaughan’s case his creaking body, as well as a miserable start to the season for Yorkshire, raises concerns that he will find a suitable and dignified end to his career difficult to come by.

As for Harmison, Miller went through the routine with Garry Richardson on Radio 5 Live yesterday morning — “No, he’s not bowling quickly enough or well enough right now”, “No, his international career is not over yet”, “Yes, he’s still a threat if he finds his best form” — but they sounded ever more like two tired actors in a long-running West End show who know their lines so well that they are trotted out automatically, without any meaning at all.

Shah, though, can feel justifiably aggrieved that his long wait as Bell’s understudy has been forgotten after only three modest Test matches in the Caribbean. It was thought that he would be the recipient of the kind of patience shown to Bell, but it is not to be; clearly the selectors do not fancy him after that fleeting view.

After his omission at Lord’s, Bell issued that sorry cry of discarded cricketers everywhere: I need to speak to someone to find out what I have to do, he said, seemingly unaware that what everyone has to do is to get on and perform and hope the selectors take notice. No one is an England player by right, although some may feel after Bell’s hasty recall that he has stronger claims to that good fortune than most.

Still, it is said that his dumping from the team after the debacle of Sabina Park fired his enthusiasm for early- season training and practice, although apart from a blinding start when he put Somerset to the sword, his first-class returns have been modest: only 158 runs in six knocks apart from his 172 at Taunton.

Like Bell, neither Sidebottom’s class nor his ability to perform at the highest level is in doubt, but after just two first-class matches this term, he can count himself slightly fortunate to return so quickly. Miller pointed out that, after surgery on his Achilles tendon, Sidebottom is bowling pain-free, so the hope must be that he can rediscover the kind of form that led to him taking 71 Test wickets in the best part of a year before injuries began to take their toll. If he can, he is an asset to England.

The recall of both allows the possibility of playing an extra batsman should the conditions dictate or should, heaven forbid, the desire to hang on to a 1-0 lead suddenly take hold. The theory goes that the Riverside ground is a far less friendly venue for batsmen than Lord’s, although the ball nipped and bounced far more quickly last week than it is likely to do up north.

But whereas the positive result at Lord’s was the first since 2005, there has never been a drawn Test at the Riverside. Given that there have been only three Tests played there, that is the type of statistic that would give statisticians cause to grumble — small sample size and all that.

The most likely outcome is for the captain and team director to name an unchanged XI, which will give them a further opportunity to look at Tim Bresnan. As Miller said yesterday, it is a long summer and what the selectors want to create is a competitive squad, not just a winning team. Bresnan had little opportunity to shine at Lord’s; he deserves another go.

England squad

A J Strauss (Middlesex, captain), A N Cook (Essex), R S Bopara (Essex), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), P D Collingwood (Durham), I R Bell (Warwickshire), M J Prior (Sussex), S C J Broad (Nottinghamshire), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), G P Swann (Nottinghamshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire), G Onions (Durham), R J Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire).