I think the good news is the batting is in a better place than it was 12 months ago. Crawley and Pope look very good players and with the emergence of Butler and Stokes alongside Root it looks a cohesive unit to me.
I have concerns over the openers. I don’t think they are terrible, I just think they are average, and worry about both in conditions where the ball bounces more, and they are likely to have to play a fair bit of off spin from Nathan Lyon.
I would imagine both get another nod in India, and we see where they are at.
If it was me, I’d make a big call now. Crawley would open. I would also want to get Dan Lawrence, who got big runs on an A tour in Australia in to the middle order-with possible Pope moving to 3. If we are serious about winning in Australia, we need to try and get thosse lads 10+ games in their positions. Root can play 4, Stokes can play ⅚ and Lawrence bats the other side of him. Buttler at 7.
The question is then, what do you do with the other opener spot. I think they will keep one of Burns/Sibley. Personally I’d go out on a limb and have Bairstow. He’s exceptional opening in 1 day cricket. He looks to have good technique to me, and has an ok record (certainly no worse than Burns). I think he’s a more destructive player than Burns at the top. He’s not my long term answer, but probably just does enough.
As for some left field options. Buttler is far happier btting at 6 than 7. He averages nearly 50 at 6 and low 30’s at 7. It is a thought in my mind. As I mentioned with Bess as a 7, there is perhaps a similar position for Sam Curran in this. If I felt either Dan Lawrence, or Ollie Pope could open I would seriously consider it, and probably comitt to playing Curran & Bess if their batting began to hold up as a 7 & 8. It would mean 6 bowlers, but having a wider variety of options. There’s a lot of iffs there, and both Curran & Bess would need to be showing consistent form with the bat.
The other option, is to take the gloves from Buttler, put them on Bairstow and have him at 7, where he plays very well. It starts to get confusing though.
They are some thoughts I’ve got- it will bean interesting winter
I have concerns over the openers. I don’t think they are terrible, I just think they are average, and worry about both in conditions where the ball bounces more, and they are likely to have to play a fair bit of off spin from Nathan Lyon.
I would imagine both get another nod in India, and we see where they are at.
If it was me, I’d make a big call now. Crawley would open. I would also want to get Dan Lawrence, who got big runs on an A tour in Australia in to the middle order-with possible Pope moving to 3. If we are serious about winning in Australia, we need to try and get thosse lads 10+ games in their positions. Root can play 4, Stokes can play ⅚ and Lawrence bats the other side of him. Buttler at 7.
The question is then, what do you do with the other opener spot. I think they will keep one of Burns/Sibley. Personally I’d go out on a limb and have Bairstow. He’s exceptional opening in 1 day cricket. He looks to have good technique to me, and has an ok record (certainly no worse than Burns). I think he’s a more destructive player than Burns at the top. He’s not my long term answer, but probably just does enough.
As for some left field options. Buttler is far happier btting at 6 than 7. He averages nearly 50 at 6 and low 30’s at 7. It is a thought in my mind. As I mentioned with Bess as a 7, there is perhaps a similar position for Sam Curran in this. If I felt either Dan Lawrence, or Ollie Pope could open I would seriously consider it, and probably comitt to playing Curran & Bess if their batting began to hold up as a 7 & 8. It would mean 6 bowlers, but having a wider variety of options. There’s a lot of iffs there, and both Curran & Bess would need to be showing consistent form with the bat.
The other option, is to take the gloves from Buttler, put them on Bairstow and have him at 7, where he plays very well. It starts to get confusing though.
They are some thoughts I’ve got- it will bean interesting winter
