England batsmen to learn Ashes fate as selectors meet
Tuesday 21 July 2015 14:58, UK
The places of several England batsmen will be up for discussion today when the selectors meet to pick a squad for the third Investec Ashes Test.
Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes were the only men to pass 50 during the 405-run defeat at Lord's which saw Australia square the series with more than a day to spare.
Cook was critical of his fellow batsmen in the aftermath of the second Test and, while the captain is not on the selection panel, his concerns were echoed by coach Trevor Bayliss on Monday.
Bayliss is due to meet fellow selectors James Whitaker, Mick Newell and Angus Fraser today ahead of next week's Edgbaston Test, and the immediate futures of Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance and even Ian Bell are likely to be on the agenda. A squad announcement is expected some time this afternoon.
It wouldn't be a surprise to any player in the team that when you play badly positions are going to be looked at and discussed.
Lyth has failed to see off the new ball in three of his four Ashes innings, while Yorkshire team-mate Ballance has one fifty in his past 10 Test knocks.
Bell's recent record makes for equally grim reading - 117 runs in his past six Tests and just 12 scored in two innings at Lord's.
Speaking on the eve of the selection meeting Bayliss said: "I'm sure all of the players know, it wouldn't be a surprise to any player in the team that when you play badly positions are going to be looked at and discussed. I'm sure it certainly will be.
"It's on the mind of anyone when the team is not playing like you would like - those things are always in the back of the coach's and selectors' minds. There are some good players on the outside."
Those players include Jonny Bairstow, averaging three figures in County Championship games this summer, and James Taylor - the Nottinghamshire batsman well-known to Newell who this week scored a career-best 291 against Sussex.
As a newcomer to English cricket, Australian Bayliss admits he will be "relying pretty much on the others" when it comes to some of the players under consideration, but he said: "Bairstow obviously, I know of, and a few of the guys in the one-day team."
There was some encouragement for the men under threat, though, as he added: "All I'll say is two Tests ago they were selected for these first couple because they were considered the best players in the country."
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