Ian Bell: Time for a change

Although Buttler has had a lean two games to start the series, he is still averaging 40.92 in his 10 Test matches to date with a very healthy strikerate (61.43). He has been one of England's bright spots with the bat and his keeping is improving. There is room for both Bairstow and Buttler in the same team. Both are good outfielders too. I'd replace Bell with Bairstow and rotate the gloves between Bairstow and Buttler to keep them both fresh.

no excuses ! Selectors shouldda pay attention to Jonny warm up numbers .

BUT they chose to go on historical stats to play it safe.

I say that Bairstow would have come closer to that 566 in partnership with Stokes and Moeen.

And in the 2nd innings neither Stokes or Moeen would have returned DUCKS !!

But I may be biased to the red head    ::LOL::

Bell, Lyth and Ballance are all in danger of losing their places in the team before Buttler. Bell's best days are behind him and whether it is during this series, after this series or at the end of the year, his run in the side is likely over.

England are in desperate need of finding an opening partner for Cook. It has been a revolving door of new (and old faces in Trott) since Strauss retired and no one player has stepped up to make the position their own. Lyth has struggled so far with an average of 25 in 4 Tests. Seven of his eight dismissals so far have been caught behind the stumps, either by the wicket-keeper or in the slip cordon. Yet only one of these would have gone on to hit the stumps. The ability to leave the wide balls alone in Test match cricket, especially as an opener when facing the new ball, is paramount to success. Lyth likes to feel bat on ball and continually plays at balls outside his off stump. By contrast, Cook, when at his best, is quite content to leave anything outside off alone and force the bowlers to bring the ball into his pads, a strong area where he scores at will.

Ballance's technique is also coming under serious fire. He stays so deep in the crease and is susceptible to anything full and straight. He got off to a fantastic start to his Test career but his footwork has been exposed by both the New Zealand quicks and now the Australians. Whether he can make the adjustment remains to be seen. Of the three, he is the most likely to remain in the side.

I would try Eoin Morgan in tests, though his domestic test average is poor.

He can play at 5 or 6.
but as stated he should be used as an advantage with his spin,don't england have a real spinner at all ??
The batting can have a bit of reshuffling,maybe getting bairstow at 4 too.
Morgan at 3 down too would be a great choice.

Ian said he misses Kevin ...  :-[

Morgan at 3 would be horrific. He has never batted higher than 6 for England and bats 4 for Middlesex but has been shockingly out of form this year.

Morgan is such a curious case. He is unbelievably talented and one of my favourite cricketers to watch when he is on. He was given a brief run in the Test side and failed to live up to expectations (16 matches at an average of 30). He had a good county season last year averaging 45, but has been incredibly underwhelming so far this year - 61 runs in 4 matches at an average of 10.17.

For me, all roads lead back to one man: Johnny Bairstow. Bairstow has played 7 county championship matches so far this year with an average of 100.66. He has scored 5 centuries (including another over the weekend), 3 fifties and a high score of 219*. I am not sure what more he can do to force his way into the team. He has been batting 5 for Yorkshire this year, so if he did replace Bell, I'd imagine England would look to move Root up the order.

If not Bairstow, other candidates include Alex Hales, James Taylor, James Vince and Daniel Bell-Drummond. Throwing youngsters like Vince and Bell-Drummond into the fire of an Ashes series is less than ideal, and Taylor, despite a century at the weekend, has been woefully short of runs.

If Lyth doesn't pan out, the most likely candidate to replace him would be Alex Hales. I like that he is right-handed as I believe there is an advantage of having a R/L combination at the top of the order. He is aggressive and in good form for Notts, averaging 46.2 in 8 matches.

Other candidates to replace Lyth would be a mixture of old retreads (Carberry and Compton) and new unknowns (Lees). Lees is still young and raw, and hasn't replicated last seasons form. Carberry is 34 and averaging just 33.47 for Hampshire this year. That leaves Nick Compton who is in form (averaging 40 for Middlesex) although at age 32 and having already been discarded by England once, I can't see them turning back to him again.

In reality, Lyth, at a minimum, will get the rest of this series to prove himself and most likely the tour of Pakistan too.

One thing that is certain, England's top order has been disastrous in 2015. In 11 of 13 Test innings this year, England have bettered 74/3 on only two occasions. In the four innings against Australia so far this series, the first 3 wickets have fallen for 43, 73, 29 and 42. That is not a recipe for success, especially against a potent attack like Australia.

This ESPN article makes for grim reading if you are an England fan. It further expands upon the numbers I provided earlier in this thread, and sadly, they just re-iterate the fact that Bell has no place in this team. Since 2012, in 42 Tests, Bell averages 34.69 when batting in the top six; among top-order batsman, only Shane Watson has a lower average.

www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/902675.html

Well I think Bell is also finished as an English international player. His days are numbered and he should just retire as the likes of Strauss did.