"My gut feel is that the person England really want to come in to play in the Ashes is Jason Roy - but you can't just fly Roy out here."
Monday 28 January 2019 18:29, UK
Nasser Hussain reckons England may play Jack Leach instead of Adil Rashid in Antigua as they look to rebound from their hammering inside four days by Windies in the first Test.
Leg-spinner Rashid was rarely used by England skipper Joe Root in Windies' second innings in Barbados, getting through nine overs for 61 runs as Jason Holder (202no) and Shane Dowich (116no) out on a mammoth stand of 295.
Hussain believes left-armer Leach, who took 18 wickets during England's 3-0 sweep in Sri Lanka before Christmas, could add Root greater control if he is selected in the second Test, which starts on Thursday.
"There is a question about Rashid," Hussain told Sky Sports News.
"Root only bowled him for seven overs on day three and then Windies' part-time spinner [Roston Chase] gets 8-60 on day four. Leach is more at you all the time, so they might go for him over Rashid."
Opener Keaton Jennings' place has come under scrutiny after he was caught nicking off for 17 and 14 respectively at Kensington Oval, leaving his Test average at 25.86 from 16 matches.
Jennings' average outside of Asia, where he has scored both of his Test centuries - one in India and one in Sri Lanka - is a lowly 17.5.
But Hussain feels the fact England's spare batsman, Joe Denly, has been featuring in the middle order for county side Kent could work in his favour.
"Jennings at the top of the order is also vulnerable - his playing of seam has been poor, so do they keep him in the side?" Hussain added of the left-hander.
"One thing we should say is that Burns played really well. He got the tempo of his innings right."
"Denly has not had a lot of cricket recently because of the way schedules are with no games in between, and he has been batting in the middle order for Kent in [County Championship] Division Two.
"My gut feel is that the person England really want to come in to play in the Ashes is Jason Roy - but you can't just fly Roy out here.
"This is the quandary they have. They might stick with Jennings and then hope that Roy has early season form - but Roy bats in the middle order for Surrey as well. So there are problems.
"England have been very good recently, winning eight out of nine Tests [before the Barbados Test] so it's not a time for absolute panic and doom and gloom - but they have some flaws."
Watch day one of the second Test between Windies and England, in Antigua, live on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) and Main Event (channel 401) from 1.30pm on Thursday.
You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
