69 days to the Ashes ..and we haven't got a clue what our best Test team is; ENGLAND v WEST INDIES SURPRISE SELECTIONS IN SQUAD FOR FIRST TEST.

Byline: MIKE WALTERS

ENGLAND'S brutal decision to slam the Ashes door in pop artist Michael Vaughan's face is a load of Jackson Pollocks.

Former skipper Vaughan has spent the winter cultivating an alternative career on canvas, and his artballing exhibition opens at London's Smithfield Gallery this weekend. But along with Steve Harmison and Ian Bell, Vaughan was given the brushoff yesterday as the selectors smashed England's perceived closed shop for players insulated by central contracts just 10 weeks before they take on the Aussies.

Uncapped seamers Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan were called up to make their debuts against the West Indies in the first npower Test at Lord's next Wednesday.

And with Ravi Bopara the shock choice ahead of Vaughan and Bell to go in at first 'drop', three of England's five recognised batsmen will enter the Test series without a first-class innings between them this season.

Along with Paul Collingwood, still waiting to make his debut for the Delhi Daredevils, Kevin Pietersen and Bopara have spent the early part of the season in the Indian Premier League.

Vaughan's disappointment last night was compounded when he was dismissed for five against Worcestershire for Yorkshire. But his bid for a recall was effectively doomed when he chiselled out a stilllife masterpiece - 20 from 93 balls - in front of selector James Whitaker at Durham last weekend.

Former chairman of selectors Ray Illingworth believes they have got it wrong over Vaughan.

Illy, one of only five Asheswinning England captains still alive, said: "Bopara has the potential to be a decent Test player, but so far I haven't seen enough from him to convince me he should bat at

No.3 against Australia. In that role you are looking for someone who can bat all day, and I'm not sure he's more likely to do that than Vaughan.

"At this stage of the build-up, you should be looking to pick the side you intend to send out in the Ashes - but I would be amazed if this was the team we send out against the Aussies.

"I feel sorry for Vaughan but at some point you have to go with class, and when you go into an Ashes series you need a strong top three.

"Even if they weren't going to pick Vaughan, Bell can consider himself unlucky. He was told to get fit and score big hundreds - he's done both, and yet they have still ignored him.

"It's a bit worrying that the only settled side England have got at the moment is their backroom team of trick cyclists and hangers-on to mollycoddle the players.

"I still believe that if we need all those people hanging around the dressing room to get the best out of our side, then we may not be picking the right people in the first place." While Onions leapfrogs his Durham team-mate Harmison in the Test pecking order, 24- year-old Bresnan's call-up was a more left-field pick.

The Yorkshire all-rounder's first taste of international cricket against Sri Lanka in 2006 was a chastening experience - his two overs were flayed for 29 runs by Sanath Jayasuriya.

But he has three first-class hundreds to his name, reaches 85mph on the speedometer and he admitted: "I'm not sure I've been doing anything different this season, but now I've been given this chance I want to grab it with both hands." New England coach Andy Flower's principles of giving youth its head, and puncturing the cosy cocoon which made contracted players feel untouchable, are laudable instincts.

But just 69 days before the Ashes opens in Cardiff, England don't have a clue about their best XI and they are not just clutching at straws in the wind. They have lost the entire haystack.

CAPTION(S):

SHOCK CALL All-rounder Bresnan can bowl at 85mph ONIONS BAGS A PLACE The Durham seamer celebrated call-up with six wickets against Somerset