Ballance, Vince and Root are among the options for England...
Monday 11 July 2016 10:44, UK
Having made light work of Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game, next up for England is a four-match Test series with Pakistan.
Before the first Test at Lord's gets under way on July 14 though, the England selectors must decide who will replace Nick Compton.
After a disappointing series against Sri Lanka, the Middlesex batsman was highly likely to be omitted from the squad to face Pakistan, even before he announced that he was taking a break from cricket.
Here we look at some of the options to fill the No 3 berth…
As the Sri Lanka series drew to a close, Borthwick was considered by many to be the obvious choice to come in for Compton. The Durham No 3 has had a wonderful season thus far, scoring 609 runs at 55.36 in first class cricket including three hundreds.
After a blistering start to the summer, the left-hander has recorded scores of 2, 4 and 5 in his last three County Championship innings, an untimely dip in form but not one that should not detract from an otherwise excellent year.
And this season is far from a one-off. Borthwick averaged just shy of 50 during a spell in New Zealand over the winter and his average has improved season on season since he was promoted up the order in 2013.
That Borthwick, whose only previous Test appearance came in the final Ashes Test of the 2013/14 series, can also provide a bowling option with his leg-spin adds to his appeal. Indeed, none other than Shane Warne believes he has the potential to be a top international spinner, saying recently: "He could be outstanding for England, if he can just stick at his bowling."
Ballance is another left-hander in the frame for the No 3 spot and with an average of 47.76 in his 15 Tests, he has already proven himself capable of scoring runs at the highest level.
A poor run of form at the start of last summer - a spell in which he made just one half-century in eight innings against New Zealand and Australia - saw him dropped after the second Ashes Test.
However, just three months earlier the Zimbabwe-born batsman had scored his fourth Test century, against the West Indies in Antigua, and followed that up with scores of 77 and 81 not out in Grenada.
Since returning to Yorkshire, Ballance has struggled to rediscover the form that first saw him called up for England, averaging a steady rather than spectacular 38.80 in first class cricket this summer. Although his touch seems to be returning of late with a half-century at Durham and a season's best 132 in Yorkshire's most recent Championship game against Middlesex.
Westley is arguably the most in-form player in county cricket at present and is just 23 away from 1,000 first class runs this season. 759 of them have come in the County Championship with centuries against the MCC and Sri Lanka, in a tour match, making up the rest.
The 27-year-old has a career average of 35.20 in first class games but has kicked on in the last two seasons, averaging 44.09 last summer and a hefty 65.13 so far this term.
However, that Westley is plying his trade in Division Two with Essex may work against him and given the emphasis on "big hundreds" by the England set up, the fact his highest score of the campaign is 125 despite reaching three figures on four occasions could also give the selectors doubts.
The other option for England is to recall Jos Buttler to the Test side and play Jonny Bairstow solely as a batsman. Trevor Bayliss has hinted at a return for Buttler following his destructive displays in the white-ball format and should that happen, it would appear a straight choice between Joe Root and James Vince to move up to three.
Promoting Root would be a shift to the Australian approach and Sky Sports' pundit Michael Atherton believes that may be Bayliss' preference.
"Traditionally, England have played their best player at four," he said. "Australians like to have them at three - think Don Bradman, Ricky Ponting, Greg Chappell.
"Trevor Bayliss is an Australian coach and deep down I think he'd like to have somebody coming in at three who can press the game and Joe Root is England's best player, so I'd move him up to three."
For Vince, meanwhile, batting at three would simply mean fulfilling the role he has had in county cricket with Hampshire and, after a tricky start, a move to a more familiar role may help him get his Test career up and running.
Who do YOU think should bat at three for England in the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's? Let us know by leaving a comment below or tweet us @SkyCricket...
