Former England batsman Mark Butcher has questioned the validity of a possible international recall for Mark Ramprakash.

39-year-old Ramprakash - who last played a Test match in 2002 - is in contention for the hosts' squad for the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval next week, but Butcher believes picking the Surrey star would be a huge gamble.

"Of course he could do a job for England, he's a fabulous player," Butcher told Cricinfo. "I just don't think he will. If he's so highly regarded, why hasn't he been playing for the past four years?

"However good a player you are, it's an enormous call to be pulled out of the wilderness after seven years, and told: 'Right, go and win us the Ashes. Oh, and by the way, we're not going to pick you for this winter's tour.'"

"Should he get picked he'll do a great job because he's a good player. But they won't pick him, so it's almost pointless talking about it."

Meanwhile, England coach Andy Flower has backed Ravi Bopara to come through his torrid run of form whatever cards are dealt him on Ashes selection on Sunday.

Flower, one of the four men who have picked the squad for the final Test against Australia at the Brit Oval, has been an advocate of Bopara's since first seeing him as a teenage batsman in the nets at Chelmsford.

How to address a lack of runs and seemingly equal lack of confidence from Bopara would have been top of the selectors' agenda when they sat at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Their decision on Bopara would have been made before his unbeaten 52 guided Essex to a County Championship victory over Middlesex at Lord's.

"Every batsman has been through a run of low scores and he hasn't managed to really get in and show what he is made of in this series," Flower said. "It's a tough situation for him but he is a pretty calm bloke, so he's keeping it in perspective."

If, as anticipated after a return of 105 runs in seven innings, the selectors believe his confidence has been shot, they will make a change at number three, with Ramprakash, Jonathan Trott and Robert Key all vying for a call-up.