Looking at SA in India they look there for the taking for England. Not replaced Kallis and Smith, Steyn injuries, Amla and Faf out of form and new players not stepping up.

I still think England should have kept Bell and put him in the middle order where he made the most of his runs. The way he bats he was never a number 3.

I forgot to mention, Ballance is back in as well... I'd be interested to see who goes in at 3. Will Ballance slot straight back in, or will Compton and Hales both play (with Hales likely dropping to 3)?

Personally I'd go with the latter. I like Gary Ballance but I don't really see why he's been recalled when his technique was so ruthlessly exposed against Australia. South Africa are hardly going to give him an easier ride.

1. Cook
2. Compton
3. Hales
4. Root
5. Taylor
6. Stokes
7. Buttler (if he gets some more runs in the ODIs)
8. Ali
9. Broad
10. Footitt
11. Anderson

Worth pointing out that Finn and Wood have both been ruled out with injury.

Also, James Taylor could easily move to 3 which would allow Moeen to go to 5 and another bowling all-rounder to come in at 8... but I think the above is more likely.

comment by (Kash) Coutinho Right Foot Curler - Justice4Ga... (U1108)
posted 10 minutes ago
Looking at SA in India they look there for the taking for England. Not replaced Kallis and Smith, Steyn injuries, Amla and Faf out of form and new players not stepping up.

I still think England should have kept Bell and put him in the middle order where he made the most of his runs. The way he bats he was never a number 3.
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It's an interesting period at the moment. South Africa are comfortably #1 in the world at the moment but I think it's fair to say we're currently in a period where all of the "proper" test sides are pretty evenly matched. In theory that sounds like a good thing but in practice I think it basically just means whoever has home advantage is likely to win, which is a little dull.

Hopefully the SA series will be fairly even.

Swap Hales with Compton in the order and you're sorted.

Good to see Footitt included. Hope to see him play as he offers something completely different.

Rapid and a leftie. Swings it too.

Add KP and Bell to that 11...and it looks alot stronger

@Serial

Good see Footitt in there. Seen a lot of him and he's carried the Derbyshire attack in the last couple of years. Hope he gets a game and also adds variety.

England will be regularly 2 down for not a lot with any combo from that selection. 3 if cook fails. Not at all confident. Theres nothing better out there except of course for bell and kp. Thought willey might have got instead of jordan who is surely out there along with Patel to carry the drinks.

People seriously need to get over Pietersen.

Can't beliver Ballance got a recall for doing fak all. Hopefully Steyn and Morkel take care of him with ease.

at the moment the series look very even due to Amla and Faf in poor form but that could easily change once they get back to SA.

Bell shouldnt have been dropped, he bats best at 4-5 so just put him there ffs and put Golden boy Root at 3.

Bell is arguably a bit unlucky to be dropped at the moment as Ballance and Compton have not been massively pushing their claims, as far as I know (I'm open to correction though). Still, England don't have a large number of outstanding batsmen in outstanding form to pick from, so it's a difficult choice.

With Finn and Wood out I would have thought Plunkett might have been in there but hey ho.

The batting is thread bare. Makes sense to give Compton a good run at 3. Hales may be hit and miss as he finds his feet so having arguably the second most defensive batsman in the game to take the shine off the new ball, makes sense.

I really hope Lee's and Bell-Drummond push on next year. Cabell and Hameed also have potential in the opener slot.

We seem to lack batting options for now. Vince for example hasn't kicked on. The likes of Leaning, Clarke and Hain are young and have a few years to develop.

Ballance will come good. As a Yorkie it amazed me to see him at 3. He is a five and will come good.

Bowling wise we have some great options. Beyond the ones chosen, you have the Curran brothers and Overton twins. In that lot you have pace, height, swing and a leftie. Exciting to see their development next year.

For now the back up option should go to Woakes or Footitt who are both 88mph plus, in the absence of Wood and Finn.

The big concern remains the spinner. Panels a County bladder. If fit, I would have much preferred Ansari. In South Africa we will get away with Ali at 8 but longer term we have to hope a genuine option comes through. Rashid appears destined for ODI and T20 specialist. Mason Crane is another youngster with promise. Whether he needs the required time to perfect his leg spin on the circuit or whether he can be fast-tracked, we do not know.

Hales, Cook, Compton, Root, Taylor, Stokes, Bairstow wk, Ali, Broad, Footitt, Anderson.

Abell not Cabell*

Patels a County bladder*

Was thinking maybe leaving bell out of this tour will actually prolong his test career. If he had been picked and had another bad series then he may have retired. As it is I expect him to come back fresh next summer, score bags of runs in county cricket and earn a recall.

It could happen Benny. If England's middle order fail in South Africa, Bell could earn a recall to play against what will be an average Pakistan team.

How are Pak going to be average?

In truth a home series to Pakistan makes them average. It should, based on previous series be a home win.

In their own conditions I would say it's the toughest tour there is.

I think India will be the toughest tour there is with there square turners from day 1. Batsmen become so worried they get out to bad shots or average balls.

While I expect us to lose in England 2016 due to our batsman's dodgy technique against the moving ball I still expect our bowling unit to take wickets.

Amir, Wahab and Imran along with Yasir will be a good foursome with the pacers enjoying the swing.

I can't see Amir going. I expect some backroom deal to be done so that he doesn't go.

Kash it's your batting thats the issue. You have had good bowlers in our conditions before. Who was the lad who got done who bowled 80mph? Aside? He was world class.

I don't see how your batting will cope with our conditions and seam options.

That's not me being arrogant by the way, more a point of how home advantage takes over.