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[lazza32]

What would Taylor be like in the team? I was impressed with what I saw.

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[FattusCattus]

Well, he would have to be careful not to be mistaken for being the mascot.

[calcurtis98]

Bairstow to replace Ballance in the squad for the third test according to SSN.

[ppccopener]

Well, he would have to be careful not to be mistaken for being the mascot.

not sure that's very politically correct but must be handy as his kit would be cheaper as a colt

[Neon Cricket]

Bairstow to replace Ballance in the squad for the third test according to SSN.

It is good to see, Bairstow has been on fire lately - deserves his chance!

[ppccopener]

Bairstow to replace Ballance in the squad for the third test according to SSN.

Bairstow should be in but some commentators going overboard on Ballance, he must be the latest scapegoat in the merry go round.
It must be a close call with Bell for that spot in the team.
Gawd knows i'm not an expert on batting but Ballance seems to have an easily correctable fault, he needs to get his weight forward not back.
There's a mark ramprakash video on stance on you tube I found very helpful to my own batting, not that's it's cured everything but it's helped.

[L21]

I bet the Aussie's cant wait to get back in to Bairstow again. They worked him out last time they will work him out again.

Taylor really struggled in the Test arena when most teams just bowled short at him.

Before anyone thinks I am just a negative nelly, I am probably the first person who wants to see the team return to the form of 05. Unfortunately I have learnt to become a realist and what I don't want to see is pointless changes that make no difference whatsoever.

Hopefully Bairstow can succeed this time. But time will tell. 

[ppccopener]

Bairstow is a far better player now than when he played before,he got runs against a good SA side, come unstuck a bit against high pace against the Windies if I recall.

as for '05, remember it, treasure it as I doubt a series as good as that will ever happen again.

I was sat infront of the telly watching every ball of the Edgbaston test, when we won with 3 runs to go(or was it 2) I cried

My wife said to me, ''I don't understand why youre crying England have won''

Women just don't under stand sport do they?

[TangoWhiskey]

I like that Bairstow is in. Will be nice to see what the lad can do when he's had 3 months of solid cricket in him as opposed to 18 months of carrying water bottles all around the world.

[Buzz]

confirmation also that Bell is at 3.

So the team will be
Cook, Lyth, Bell, Roooooot, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Broad, Finn and Anderson (assuming that Wood is not fit/rested)

[uknsaunders]

confirmation also that Bell is at 3.

So the team will be
Cook, Lyth, Bell, Roooooot, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Broad, Finn and Anderson (assuming that Wood is not fit/rested)

Never learn. Bell scores runs at 5 and 6. The higher he bats the worse his average gets. Root has a test ton opening and while the same might be true of batting up the order, who looks more likely to score runs at 3, Bell or Root?

Bottled it with Lyth, 1 knock over 30 in 8 innings (albeit it a ton) isn't a good enough conversion rate. That starts the chain reaction with Ballance/Bell - essentially going in too early. Especially when Ballance is a converted number 5. Dare I say it but blocker Compton would be worth a punt if he can grind it for 25-30 overs. At least knock some shine off the new ball.The biggest problem at the moment is the lack of credible options at 2 and 3. Moral of Lords is if you can't set a platform you can't expect others to bail you out all the time.

[ppccopener]

Never learn. Bell scores runs at 5 and 6. The higher he bats the worse his average gets. Root has a test ton opening and while the same might be true of batting up the order, who looks more likely to score runs at 3, Bell or Root?

Bottled it with Lyth, 1 knock over 30 in 8 innings (albeit it a ton) isn't a good enough conversion rate. That starts the chain reaction with Ballance/Bell - essentially going in too early. Especially when Ballance is a converted number 5. Dare I say it but blocker Compton would be worth a punt if he can grind it for 25-30 overs. At least knock some shine off the new ball.The biggest problem at the moment is the lack of credible options at 2 and 3. Moral of Lords is if you can't set a platform you can't expect others to bail you out all the time.

Well said.

This ain't the vicarage 3rd 11, you need proper openers. Hav'nt heard any reasonable explaination from England or any of the 'experts' why Compton or Carberry were not given a long run.Apart from the rumours Compton is a bit up himself...which is just a rubbish side-issue.

I've been watching cricket a long time(very long time) and I could count on one hand an opener who went out there and thumped it. Wayne Larkins possibly...for those old enough to remember.
At test level it just does not happen.You need technique,guts and a lot of patience.
Both Carberry and Compton have that.

[Buzz]

except the last time he batted at 3 he scored 221 - but why let a fact get in the way of a good story.

The reality is that Ballance has to be dropped. Bairstow has smashed the door down with weight of runs to be selected so you need to rejig the order as you need a 3.
Root refuses to do it - which is rubbish. Who is left, Moeen? I don't think so. So Bell it is.

I would love to have Hales in the team, but he isn't scoring runs at the moment.

[joeljonno]

Well said.

This ain't the vicarage 3rd 11, you need proper openers. Hav'nt heard any reasonable explaination from England or any of the 'experts' why Compton or Carberry were not given a long run.Apart from the rumours Compton is a bit up himself...which is just a rubbish side-issue.

I've been watching cricket a long time(very long time) and I could count on one hand an opener who went out there and thumped it. Wayne Larkins possibly...for those old enough to remember.
At test level it just does not happen.You need technique,guts and a lot of patience.
Both Carberry and Compton have that.

Lyth has done well at opening for the past 2-3 years at CC level and deserves his chance.

Neither Compton or Carberry set the world on fire when they had their chance, so they need to wait till it's their turn again as they are not ripping the CC apart.

The fact that there is 3 struggling in the top five highlights this exponentially and they can only really make one change, which this time is Ballance.

Maybe if Bell/Lyth fail again, they will be looked at next time.

An opener who gives it a thump ...?  How about David Warner. He seems to do ok opening.


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[Akewstick]

I'm not saying it's not worth looking at the line up this closely, but in my mind there's a much bigger culprit in this series - the pitches!

Give us something with some life in it and perhaps our world class seamers can do their job properly, and we might see how well our batsmen do without 500+ on the board and having spent two days looking at Steve Smith's boring face.

Added to that: that the reason we supposedly want to play on dead pitches is no one in the country believes any of our batsmen have the nouce to stand up to Johnson? It's a pathetic approach to competetive sport and I'm sure the english top order are insulted by having to go along with it.