I like your team Manic.....but much as we love YJB your really leaving out Morgan for him.....Duckett and Billings need to be in, now we(England) are on the right patch we got to keep going.
With Morgan....yes professional sport is ruthless sometimes but our style has changed completely from the last world cup, and thank god it did, he is massively influencial in this and can change a game on his day...
not easy to pick a side at the moment with new guys doing well....
Yes, I would, and I shall tell you for why (touching on the Hales situation and Ali as well in the process). The side I've listed above has the dynamic range that England have been looking for, with a wide range of batting styles and guys capable of scoring heavily down to 9 - ten if Plunkett or Willey take the last bowling slot.
With Stokes as the fifth front line bowler and Buttler keeping, that leaves five batting slots - Root is in, so Ali, in most conditions, can be spared. You then need two openers, a four bat and a seven. Roy has done nothing wrong and is our most explosive early option. I think Hales is good, but has been found out a little now that he is being asked to be the one who builds an innings and as a result has become rather hit and miss, so I would go with Duckett who adds the right/left dynamic and a wider angle of strokes.
So two from Morgan, Bairstow and Billings. Bairstow is, for me, the best number four of the lot - he can build an innings or destroy an attack and, crucially, he has done so with consistency over the past two to three years, which allows for the occasional risk taker around him. He is also our best fielder. Morgan has played the odd great knock but right now, putting him at four would be a selection based on the Mike Brearley principle.
Down to Morgan vs Billings at seven. This one was tough - but in my view Billings has more options and room to develop (and is our second best fielder) so I went that way, knowing that Ali would pinch this spot in spinning conditions.
You may not agree, but its hardly an unreasonable analysis!