comment by Chris HaaKsworth (U11574)
posted less than a minute ago
(b) and (c) both work fine Forrr but KP is never gonna be brought back, that ship has well and truly sailed
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I think I'd be tempted to bring in Rashid. Bairstow could be inevitably coming in soon anyway depending on how Lyth does.

comment by John Tezza (U20384)
posted less than a minute ago
Not saying I agee with it, but I think Bell gets less scrutiny because his past big scoes give him an escape route

Anyway if we make it past 50 without losing more than 2 wickets I'll consider that to be some form of improvement.
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You're right, that is the reason - but it's ludicrously unfair

He's literally built a career on form like 20, 20, 40, 0, 0, 10, 0, 5, 10, 180, 10, 10, 10, 0, 0, 5, 20, 170, 5, 10, 10.... you get the picture

One big innings every 10 seems to buy him just enough time to survive till his next big ton, despite showing no bottle or form for huge periods in between

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Forrr - Suplex City (U18420)
posted 8 seconds ago
Question for you guys....

If we drop Bell after this test, do you:

(a) Bring back KP at #4

(b) Bring in Bairstow at either (4) or (5) - could move Root up

(c) Bring in Adil Rashid, move the batting order up 1 place. Moeen at (7) for instance.
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i think we can safely rule out a)!

i have not seen enough of bairstow this year to know whether he is simply making hay in a weak county championship or he has made huge technical improvements to his game and become truly top-class (as eg smith has done over the past few years).

i do think rashid has been pretty shamefully treated by england though, so his test debut is long overdue.

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Bairstow has improved hugely, you only need to look at how well he played towards the end of the NZ ODI series.

Personally I'd look at dropping Ballance as well now, but I do worry about who we could bring in at 3 which is an extremely difficult position to bat

(and bring in Rashid for Ballance)

Scott Borthwick at Durham is a less-discussed option - excellent bat coming in at 3 and a good leg spin option

Ballance averages 50 still that the problem, can't really drop someone when they're doing that.

Cook
Lyth
Root
Bairstow
Ballance
Stokes
Butler
Moeen
Broad
Wood
Anderson

how about that?

BringBackKP

Yeah... he's arguably doing a lesser version of what Bell is doing though, his average is skewed by some big innings but he's on pretty shocking form now.

I don't like the idea of moving Root up, he's playing so damn well at 5 it seems wrong to shift him. He could work brilliantly at 3, but it might mess up his form horribly and I don't spose it's really worth the risk. I suppose I am advocating moving him to 4 but that's where he bats for the ODI side so I figure he has a bit more recent experience there and it's a less extreme move.

I would just move Root and Stokes up a position and slot Bairstow in at 6. Let Bairstow keep and give Buttler a break from the spotlight so he can focus on his batting.

I think Morgan should be another option to bring back into the test team.

Lyth

There goes Lyth.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

keep getting Lyth out in the same way, not good news for him at all

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

would you drop Lyth now?

Ballance in....

Similar issues to Sam Robson when he was opening, daft wafting at balls outside off

That's the sort of weakness a test bastman can't afford to have, not a good sign for Lyth at all

Yes I would, Aussies have him worked out.

If England had anything about them.. They'd ditch Lyth now. He defends away from his body.. you cant do that at international level
If the England management had some balls. They'd put Ballance upto open and bring KP back in at 5.
I don't like the bloke.. But this is about winning games.

Cook and Bell to open next Test? then drop Bell if he fails as an opener?

Cook and Moeen to open

bell 3 root 4 .kp 5 stokes 6..Looks much better. I would move root to 4. He comes in when we are 3 down already..
England wont change though..

you Can Feel their Pressure

Being totally outplayd here.. due to the batsmen...Been watching the game.from a far..

not sure i like the idea of dropping lyth already, but he is worryingly close to being in the not good enough for a test opener camp (which given all the recent failures is pretty crowded at the moment).

Only passed 40 once in 8 innings.

I would move Ballance to open.. hes more likely to get more runs than Lyth.. Lyth is stuck ina mindset of not knowing whether to play a shot or not. so hes defending half and half. You cant do that in test cricket..