England: Should Alex Hales, Sam Robson or Adam Lyth open?

Jonathan Trott’s international retirement has re-opened the debate on who should walk out with Alastair Cook at the top of the order.

With the two-Test series against New Zealand a matter of weeks away – and the County Championship in full swing – here’s an updated look at some of the main contenders to step into Trott’s vacant berth following the 1-1 draw with West Indies…

Sam Robson (Middlesex)

County Championship 2015 – Inns: 6, Runs: 250, Hst: 178, Ave: 41.66

Robson’s sense of timing remains, having transformed a modest start to the season by piling on 178 on during Middlesex’s Championship game against Durham. Cook’s opening partner for each of England’s seven Tests last summer was jettisoned after notching one hundred (against India) and a fifty (against Sri Lanka) in his first five Test innings, the runs drying up thereafter - a top score of 37 in his six scratchy knocks proving his downfall. You cannot question Robson's commitment to the cause - especially with the Ashes looming - after he spurned the advances of his native Australia to line-up for England courtesy of his Nottinghamshire-raised mother.

Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)

County Championship 2015 – yet to play

England’s price for finding out in the West Indies if Trott could cut it at the top level again was to spurn the opportunity to assess Lyth’s qualities on the highest stage. Lyth was the top-scoring batsman in county cricket in 2014 (1489 runs at an average of 67.68) as he helped Yorkshire to their first Championship title in 13 years. A left-hander with a dashing array of strokes, Lyth creamed six hundreds and six fifties in his 16 matches with a best of 251 against Rose rivals Lancashire at Old Trafford. The Whitby-born batter, who notched a ton and a half-century while on Lions duty this winter, could add the panache to England’s top order that Cook, for all his run-accumulating abilities, sometimes can’t.

Alex Lees (Yorkshire)

County Championship 2015 – Inns: 5, Runs 279, Hst: 100, Ave. 69.75

What is it with Yorkshire and young batsmen? Joe Root and Gary Ballance have become staples of the England Test side and 21-year-old Lees could be the next, provided he gets the nod over Tykes opening partner Lyth. Lees’ 2014 figures didn’t quite match those of his colleague – he collected 971 runs at 41.44 with two centuries – but they were hardly bad and he was named Young Player of the Year at the Cricket Writers’ Club Awards. An England Lions gig alongside Lyth and Robson followed, although Lees didn’t display his batting skills to the max against South Africa A. Yet a steady hundred at the top of the order in Yorkshire’s drawn Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge will have done his cause no harm.

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)

County Championship 2015 – Inns: 6, Runs: 510, Hst: 236, Ave: 85.00

The big-hitting Hales has started the Championship season like a train, smashing 236 against Yorkshire and another 141 and 94 against Hampshire, as if to emphasise he’s suitability to the longer forms of the game having finally been given a go in England’s ODI side. Nottinghamshire farmed Hales out on loan to Worcestershire at the beginning of 2014 but he returned to the Trent Bridge first team shortly after and ended the campaign with three hundreds and, perhaps fundamentally if England want more oomph from the opening berth, a strike rate of 72.38, a far superior number to that of his rivals. Another tick for Hales is the way he holds the bat, as a call-up for him would give England that sought-after right-left opening partnership.

Nick Compton (Middlesex)

County Championship 2015 – Inns: 6, Runs: 175, Hst: 85, Ave: 29.16

The experienced Durban-born star, who has returned to Middlesex after a five-year stint with Somerset, has been banging out runs at county level for years and that didn’t change last term as he pocketed 961 in 16 games. Compton has not let anyone down in his nine Test appearances either, with two tons against New Zealand his best displays. Still, the 45-ball seven against the Black Caps that caused him to be dropped ahead of the 2013 Ashes didn’t make great viewing and you get the feeling Compton, much like Michael Carberry, has been consigned to the role of ‘former’ England opener.

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)

County Championship 2015 – yet to play

Sir Ian Botham isn’t the only pundit to be questioning Moeen's place in England’s set-up after a tour of the West Indies that yielded a batting average of just 22 (in two Tests) and six wickets at nearly 35 apiece. Some poor running between the wickets didn’t help, but elevating Moeen up to opener could solve a number of issues in one swoop – not least of which is the balance of the side. Bumping him up from the middle-order would enable the game-changing Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler to rise up to six and seven respectively, creating room in the lower-order for a genuine frontline spinner or a more penetrative third seamer.

Watch England’s two-Test series against New Zealand live on Sky Sports – starting on Thursday 21 May.