Ian Bell looks a sure thing for Ashes after recall to England ODI squad

Bell has been called up for the last two matches of the troubled series against Pakistan - the first of which is today at Lord's, due to start at 1pm - after scoring 107 off 95 balls in Warwickshire's victory over Somerset at Lord's.

The 28-year-old was not involved with England this summer earlier as he had just returned from a metatarsal injury but is deemed a guaranteed pick for Thursday's Ashes squad announcement.

Bell announced himself fit and ready to return to the national side after his match-winning knock in the CB40 Final.

The Bears stand-in skipper hit an exquisitely-paced century to seal a three-wicket win over luckless Somerset, who finished runners-up in a domestic competition for the third time this season, and was immediately summoned back into the international fold for the final two one-dayers against Pakistan.

Bell was only out of the original squad due to a broken foot sustained against Bangladesh earlier in the summer and worked hard to return to fitness before the end of the season.

He said after the match that he had been told he had no chance of playing again for England this term, but was focused on spearheading Warwickshire's late bid for silverware.

Bell grew up watching a side drilled by the innovative Dermot Reeve and regular trophy winners in the mid-nineties and was thrilled to add to their trophy cabinet.

"I'm delighted with what I achieved here," said Bell.

"I grew up watching Warwickshire and I was lucky enough to be growing up at a time when they were winning a lot of trophies.

"We probably haven't done ourselves justice in the last couple of years in that respect, although we've been a good side.

"But it's a completely different team to the one I came into a few years ago. Back then we had players like Nick Knight, Ashley Giles, Dougie Brown, Trevor Penney. I now look at the team as a young side, and an exciting one for the future."

Meanwhile, England captain Andrew Strauss has insisted the one-day series against Pakistan must go on, admitting his team have got used to playing against a backdrop of corruption allegations. The Test and one-day series has been overshadowed by claims Pakistan players accepted payment for 'spot-fixing' - where players agreeing to bowl or bat to produce predetermined outcomes.

The latest allegations concern batting patterns in the third one-day international which was won by Pakistan last week. But Strauss urged caution amid demands for the one-day series to be abandoned."I can totally understand that viewpoint but it's a hard thing to stop a series when we don't know how credible the evidence is," Strauss said.

He added: "I think we've got used to putting that to one side now. I think we've got used to focusing on the cricket side of things now.

"Clearly if the ICC had hard evidence of what was taking place then we would change our views."

Strauss does not agree the claims have devalued the Test series victory or the NatWest Series, which England lead 2-1 with two to play.

"It's certainly overshadowed the cricket," Strauss said. "But I don't think that means the cricket has been any less important."

The England skipper insists he has never had the impression that Pakistan were not trying to win every match.

"They've been three very hard-fought cricket matches. There certainly seems to be passion on both sides, they've been high intensity affairs."

England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), SM Davies (wkt), IJL Trott, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, GP Swann, MH Yardy, JM Anderson, LJ Wright, IR Bell.

Pakistan (from): S Afridi (captain), M Hafeez, F Alam, M Yousuf, U Akmal, K Akmal (wkt), A Shafiq, A Razzaq, U Gul, S Ajmal, S Akhtar, M Irfan, S Hasan, A Ali, W Riaz.