Nasser Hussain backs Taylor to replace 'in doubt' Pietersen for Old Trafford Test

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor is a contender to replace star batter Kevin Pietersen in the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford if Pietersen fails to recover from his injury.

According to Sky News, Pietersen's participation in next week's clash against Australia at Old Trafford is in doubt after he failed to take the field for the final day of England's 347-run win at Lord's due to a left calf strain, and England is continuing to monitor his progress.

The report also added that in the meantime, Taylor, who scored 48 runs in his three Test innings against South Africa last summer, has been granted permission to play for Sussex in the three-day game against Australia starting on Friday.

Stating that he believes that Taylor deserves a shot at rekindling his England career, Hussain said that he is hoping that the batsman may come in at Old Trafford if Pietersen failed to prove his fitness given that England batting coach Graham Gooch put forward only Taylor's name as a possible replacement for Pietersen.

According to Hussain, even though Taylor played very well against South Africa, he was completely discarded after the Headingley Test against New Zealand, adding that it will reflect badly on the team if Taylor is not picked as he has done well in division one cricket for his county.

Hussain further said that the days of just playing a cricketer in two or three Tests have long gone, adding that Taylor is good enough to play now if he was satisfactory a few months ago against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Hussain also said that Australian all-rounder Shane Watson is better off working on his technical issues in the nets than playing against Sussex given that he was performing well in counties and was in good form before the Test matches.

Stating that Watson should get the fluency of batting, Hussain further said that he believed that the right-handed batsman should spend some time away from the middle as the middle is a hard place to work out a technical failing, although he admitted that it would not be easy as England will attack him again in Old Trafford.