England’s middle order marvels all set to move on up
ENGLAND coach Trevor Bayliss wants to promote his all-rounders in an attempt to solve the batting woes that cost them a series victory against Pakistan. Bayliss wants Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and, when he is fit, Ben Stokes to move up the Test batting order against India this winter, with James Vince and Gary Ballance under threat after failing to take their chances. And the future of Alex hales, fined 15 per cent of his match fee during england’s fourth Test defeat at the Oval which gave Pakistan a share of the series, will be judged on his run-scoring record rather than any disciplinary issues. The win would have given england all nine Test trophies and moved them to the brink of world No 1 ranking. Bayliss reacted to the failure with his customary quest for bold moves. Asked whether Bairstow, Moeen and Stokes could move up after regularly bailing england out this summer, he said: ‘That’s certainly one of the things I’ve been thinking of. ‘They’ve scored so many runs at No 5, No 6, No 7. Putting them higher is definitely an option. It worked with Joe Root going up to No 3, so that’s high on the agenda.’ But promotion for the prolific Bairstow to four or five would not mean he would give up the wicketkeeping gloves even if Jos Buttler returns to the side. ‘I’d be confident that Jonny can carry on doing both,’ added Bayliss. ‘he dropped a few against Sri Lanka but, in this series, he’s kept very well. If he’s confident in one then, usually, he’ll do the other pretty well and, right now, his batting is top class.’ Bayliss has reminded hales and Stuart Broad of their responsibilities. hales went to the TV umpire to remonstrate after being given out to a disputed first-innings catch by Yasir Shah, while Broad was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for appearing to criticise the dismissal in a tweet. ‘They’ve been spoken to because it was silly,’ said Bayliss. ‘I don’t really understand being on Twitter, but going into the third umpire’s room was just wrong. Whether the decision is right or wrong, that’s just something that shouldn’t be happening, especially as hales wants to be an umpire in years to come, so that’s a funny one.’ hales had a poor series against South Africa and Pakistan but did well against Sri Lanka. Whether england will hand Alastair Cook yet another opening partner will come down to whether they believe that hales can replicate his one-day form over the longer game this winter. ‘If everyone was judged on making one mistake, a lot of us would be in trouble, so it’s down to the runs and whether he deserves to be in the team,’ said Bayliss. ‘It will also come down to who’s out there and are they ready to play Test cricket. have they got what it takes?’