Gary Ballance's place in England team debated by Sky Sports cricket experts
Monday 20 July 2015 14:14, UK
The fall-out from England's dire showing at the crease in the Lord's Test has prompted Shane Warne and Michael Holding to say Gary Ballance should be moved, while David 'Bumble' Lloyd wants a more conservative approach from the selectors.
The mood in the England camp was buoyant after crushing the Australians in the opening Investec Ashes Test at Cardiff with the media, players and fans applauding Alastair Cook's refreshed, aggressive and dynamic team.
After four largely miserable days at Lord's and England's collapse to a 405-run defeat, the series is level and the knives are out with their under-firing batsmen receiving the bulk of the criticism, especially Ballance (who scored 23 and 14) and Adam Lyth (0 and 7).
On a pitch where the tourists declared twice, amassing 820 runs for the loss of 10 wickets over two innings, the hosts' top order struggled in embarrassing fashion, losing their first four wickets for 30 first time around and for 48 on Sunday.
Warne told Sky Sports Ashes: "Ballance is the one who has to go, as much as I like Ballance, as much as he is doing a good job. He is not putting any pressure on the bowler. I just don’t think you can bat like that and be successful and put pressure on a quality attack. I think they are just going to knock you over eventually.
"I move Ian Bell up to No 3. Joe Root at 4, Ben Stokes at 5. Jos Buttler at 6. Moeen Ali at 7. Adil Rashid at 8. It gives you more variety with the ball with the leg spinner in there and helps the quicks. You don't lose too much with the batting as he is dangerous player down the order. Bell needs to put his hand up and say I’m a senior player I’m not going anywhere, let me take over at No 3."
Holding, Sky Sports commentator and ex-West Indies bowler, added: "At least one change has to be made and that's moving Ballance from three.
"Whether that means taking him out of the team totally or not, but he cannot continue to bat at No 3. He’s looking as if he is a night watchman, going out there to protect other batsman. Both of his feet in the crease - all he’s doing is looking to push the bat at the ball. You cannot have a No 3 batsman batting like that."
Botham is another pundit keen on tinkering with the top order. The England legend said: "Joe Root up at No 3 is a no-brainer. He keeps getting stranded down the order. I would definitely play him there and then they have to think about the rest of the order and how they want to shape it."
However, Bumble, Sky Sports cricket expert, was not keen on England's head coach Trevor Bayliss shaking things up too much adding: "You cannot keep chopping and changing the team.
"That’s not the way to do it once you've selected a player. Let’s look at Lyth. Two matches ago he got a century against a good attack in helpful conditions against New Zealand.
"Two matches at Lord's, he got a real snorter of a delivery in the second innings, a poor dismissal in the first. He's just going to have to learn about Test match cricket. But name me another opener, name me one who's knocking the door down and wants to be picked."
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Sky Sports county cricket expert David Fulton thinks Jonny Bairstow should be recalled, highlighting how the tourists benefited from making two changes after their Cardiff capitulation.
On Bairstow, Fulton told Sky Sports News HQ: "When you're talking about banging on the door, he's kicking it down. He's scored 906 runs and he's only batted 13 times, including four hundreds and one double hundred. He’s got pedigree in international cricket.
"There was a feeling he had a weakness against the shorter ball, but he's worked on his game and he's a far better player now. He has to play. I would juggle the batting order, have Root or Ian Bell at No 3, instead of Ballance.
"Ballance is a good player with a good record but he’s been worked out. Bairstow should slot in at No 5."
Fulton feels Lyth should not be discarded, but suggested Middlesex's Nick Compton and Durham's Mark Stoneman if the selectors feel new blood is required.
He added: "I like the look of Stoneman. He only averages 30 but what he does is he bats positively and scores runs at Durham which is one of the hardest places to score runs."
Regarding Alex Hales, who has struggled recently having started the county season with knocks of 236, 141 and 94, Fulton stated: "In his last eight innings his top score is 24. Everyone likes the look of him but I hope now's not the time to pick him.
"He's a purple-patch player and at the moment he's struggling. If he's struggling in county cricket, he'll struggle against Australia."
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