batmanbegins wrote:Who would you drop before ballance? Personally i think bairstow should be at 5 as he has been our best player in the past year. Stokes is our most important player and was our best player this series and Mooen was our second best player, plus hes our best spinner which is a huge issue cos hes not that good.
For a start, combined Stokes and Ali aren't as important as Root. Then it's your pick of a fit Anderson and Broad.
Ali averages 34 with the bat and 40 with the ball over. If there's a batsman outside the side who can bat top 6, he takes Ali's spot. If Ali's bowling is that important then he takes Rashid's spot. Stokes should also not be batting 6. He's a Mitch Marsh clone. Not good enough with the bat and I think in time his bowling will be less useful. The one saving grace is the fact Bairstow can bat. Which means he should be batting 5 in that side and 6 if Stokes is playing.
England seem to be going back to that 1990s plan of playing as many all rounders as they can. It didn't work then and won't now because all rounders don't keep the pressure on with the ball and don't fight back with the bat well enough.