Ashes 2013/14: England should pick Boyd Rankin to go to Australia

England's squad for this winter's Ashes defence picks itself - or does it?

That leaves a discussion between moving Root down the order and picking a specialist opening batsman or persisting with Root and picking another reserve middle-order batsman. The candidates for the opening berth are Nick Compton and Michael Carberry, with Eoin Morgan and Gary Ballance vying for the middle-order berth. Root hasn't done any better than Compton at the top of the order, even allowing for the fact that he played in an Ashes series rather than against New Zealand. I'm going to keep my options open about that spot because I actually wouldn't mind seeing Trott open with Cook, but I'm not sure the selectors would see it like that. I don't think they'll go back to Compton and I don't think they'll go for Carberry either. My preference in the middle would be Morgan (although I'm not convinced the selectors will go for him). I know he hasn't played a lot of first-class cricket recently but I think that his temperament is stronger than some of the other candidates. That means I've discarded the likes of Chris Woakes, Simon Kerrigan, James Tredwell, Ballance, Michael Carberry and James Taylor. Chris Tremlett had a good tour in 2010/11 but he hasn't rolled many people over for Surrey. If he was fully fit and firing, they'd take him but I think Rankin might sneak into his spot now. Some people are talking about Ben Stokes making the trip but I think it's a little bit early for him - but his time will come. Watch the 2013/14 Ashes live on Sky Sports and the Ashes Events Centre - available online and on iPad and mobile - from November.