Vince still in with a shout says Bayliss
TREVOR BAYLISS has warned a few of England’s misfiring Test side that a winning team is no guarantee of an unchanged one ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston next week.
The England coach chose the afterglow of Monday’s Old Trafford win to fire warning shots across the bows of James Vince and, to a lesser extent, Moeen Ali.
Vince has an average of 18.57 after five Tests this summer and Bayliss has left him in no doubt he must produce if he is selected at Edgbaston.
“I don’t see there’s any reason to panic but as I said after the last game, runs will count,” he said. “What is certain is that there has been no talk about him having a spot until a certain time, that’s for sure.
“Yes, I like to see people given a little bit more of an extra go rather than one game but we’ve never put a quantity on it. We’ve never said ‘five Tests, six Tests, seven Tests’, or whatever. It will be a bit of a gut feeling and if there’s someone else who warrants a chance to replace a player, I’m sure it will be discussed.”
England and Bayliss want their original gut feeling about Vince to be vindicated but he has not yet kept his side of the deal, failing to back up his talent with numbers.
The manner of his dismissals – three edging cover drives to the keeper or slips and another picking out short extra – have hinted at a failure to avoid obvious traps.
Vince has been given leeway, because Sam Robson, who averaged over 30 from his first seven Tests, and Adam Lyth with 20.38 after his seven, were jettisoned with better records.
But Bayliss wants to have one last look at him in Birmingham.
Moeen is a different case given that he had a good Test at Old Trafford with some crucial second innings wickets, but Bayliss wants to see further improvement from his off-spinner.
“Moeen bowls wicket-taking balls,” he said. “But for me, he’s got to work on his consistency to get the ball to bounce in the one spot a lot more often. He’s working hard at it, so hopefully that starts to come together.”
Moeen and Adil Rashid enjoyed working with former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq in the build-up to Old Trafford even if Bayliss does not seem keen on the idea of a full-time coach for the slow bowlers.
“He worked more on a tactical side rather than technical and that’s where we think Rash and Mo need to make improvements to go ahead in the international game,” said Bayliss.
“They need to work on field settings and how to bowl to different players.”
Rashid may again be the unused squad member in a likely 13 for the third Test announced today.
Injured Ben Stokes will be replaced by either by Steve Finn or Jake Ball, who bowled better than 1-88 suggested at Lord’s in the series opener.