McGrath is over-weight & useless. Completely useless. Worst captain we've had.

Ramprakash anyone?

On figures alone the best English born batsman of the last decade but for whatever reason just couldn't hack it at test level (cf Hick) but now well past his sell by date at this level.
I'd go with Bell at 3, Collingwood 4 & Bopara at 5.
Less optimistic for the rest of the series without Pieterson.
But they are beatable, it will be interesting to see if & when Lee plays.

I think they'll just sledge Bell to death and he'll do something stupid. Sherrrrmaaaan.

If Lee plays the next test. I really think we'll struggle.

Having Pietersen unavailable is in a perverse way an opportunity. We get an experienced batsman who is in good form in, to replace someone who has been struggling with an injury, and not 100%.

He may get a apir in the next match, but he is also capable of getting a decent score, and is likely to occupy the crease for longer than Pietersen

I would be more worried if pietersen was scoring the majority of runs in matches so far. So really Bell could end improving the team as he can hold up play and calm the game down if some quick wickets fall. Also he is very good at close fielding.