Stokes at three is a terrible idea. He has played four Test matches, in which he has shown potential and played one excellent up yours knock. His situation is similar to that of Joe Root 12-15 months ago, when he was painted as the great white hope rather than what he was, a highly promising player who had success on relatively passive pitches in games where he hadn't been required to force the pace.
Root was then thrust into the opening position against the Australians far too quickly and has struggled since, that Lord's knock aside, when he could still have been out very early on. If you look at Stokes, his batting technique is rudimentary and would, against a hard new ball and fresh quicks, probably not stand up to the task more often than not. This would be a sensible appraisal of what he has achieved so far. It is not unlike Flintoff's technique when he started playing Test cricket. Also, Stokes would be required to bowl a good few overs, and young all-rounders have a propensity to either bowl or bat well in a single game - too much of a risk for this for this brave new England.
The person who bats two or three will need to have a grooved game, Trott and Strauss are two examples of people who knew their games inside out and made an instant impact. It's why kolpaks/residency players have often been picked - they have had an enforced period in which to qualify and learn rather than being plucked out like Root and Stokes too early. I would be inclined to look to someone like ... well there isn't an obvious choice at the moment. I think Buzz is painting an ideal of what he would like. I don't think there is anyone ready to go. In that case, I would expect Trott to be welcomed back as soon as possible. The other opener, well, I don't know and haven't really seen anyone (I only really see div 2 stuff live, so wouldn't expect too). So I won't post silly examples.
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Topic: England Lions in Sri Lanka (Read 6729 times)