England to stick with Ashes flops
VINCE AND STONEMAN KEEP PLACES FOR NEW ZEALAND
England are prepared to give one last chance to their ashes batting flops even though coach Trevor Bayliss insists they must start planning for the next series in australia now.
Mark Stoneman (below) and James Vince will travel to new Zealand for two Tests in March, despite struggling here to prove they have the game to succeed at the highest level.
The squad will be announced tonight, and Bayliss said: ‘ It comes down to when is the time to move on and personally I feel Stoneman and Vince should be given another couple of games to show us what they’ve got.
‘We’ve seen during this series against probably the best bowling attack in the world in their home conditions that they can play a bit. But at the top level it’s about making big scores.
‘Vince has looked as comfortable as anyone in the runs he’s scored here but then he makes a mistake and gets out and it has been similar each time. That frustrates him more than any of us so it’s obviously something he’s got to work on.
‘Both those guys in those first three games, with dawid Malan, were our best players. They dropped off in the last couple of games with this being their first big five-match series.
‘I think they’ve done enough with no one really pushing them from behind because of a lack of games.’
Before the final ashes Test, Bayliss namechecked three lions batsmen in liam livingstone, dan lawrence and Joe Clarke as candidates for new Zealand but it appears only one of them is likely to go, probably at the expense of gary Ballance.
‘You’ve got to have someone better to take over,’ insisted Bayliss. ‘If we do go down the track of picking some new young batters people have got to realise that results might not be quite what we like.
‘ On the other hand, that youthful enthusiasm can enhance the performance of the team. Trying to get the timing right is the important thing.’
Bayliss had been furious earlier in the tour when England players were involved in late- night drinking sessions. But, after a talk to the team from former captain alastair Cook in Perth, Bayliss thinks things have changed.
‘I think since Perth it’s finally sunk in that it doesn’t matter how small the incident — times have changed,’ added Bayliss. ‘That’s a good sign and hopefully that
attitude continues.’ PROBABLE TEST SQUAD FOR NZ: Cook, Stoneman, Vince, Root (capt), Malan, Bairstow (wkt), Moeen, Woakes, Overton, Broad, Anderson, Foakes (wkt), Livingstone, Crane, Curran, Roland-Jones.