Ashes 2015: The No.3 Conundrum for England

(From left to right) Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell © Getty Images

England have dropped Gary Ballance for Jonny Bairstow for the third Ashes Test following a 405-run drubbing in the second game against Australia at Lord’s. England have realised that their top-order is a major worry and have drafted an in-form batsman.  Bairstow is coming off a brilliant century against Worcestershire and rightly deserves a place in the England squad. While Bairstow is a good middle-order batsman, he will not play at No.3 position. Pramod Ananth believes Joe Root, Ian Bell or Moeen Ali will be the ideal candidates for that all-important position for the third Test at Edgbaston.

England went into The Ashes full of confidence. They performed well in the Test series against New Zealand before this and more importantly, their main batsmen like Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and even Moeen Ali got some runs under their belts. But their top-order has always been shaky. A lot of pressure was put on the middle-order to cover for the top-order’s failures and sometimes the middle-order delivered, while they failed to do so on other occasions. ALSO READ: Alastair Cook’s speech to team after being set the 509-run target by Australia

Veteran batsman Bell has been short of runs of late. He has failed to score many runs, since his big hundred against West Indies at the Caribbean couple of months back.  Bell has not had a good couple of Tests against Australia too and the Edgbaston Test could be Bell’s last chance to redeem himself.  He will be the front-runner to bat in the No.3 position.  He has batted on many occasions and in fact his highest score of 235 against India also came when he came out to bat at No.3. With Bell’s experience as an opener in the limited overs format, he would know how to play a hard new ball in the initial stages of the innings, in case his side lose an early wicket. Once he gets set, he has the ability and temperament to go on get a big score.

Ian Bell at No.3

There have been calls from many ex-players and pundits to promote Joe Root at No.3. Root has been one of England’s most consistent batsmen over the last couple of years. He averages over 72 at No.5 and he is often the man, who digs England out of trouble. He is also not afraid to play attacking cricket when needed. His quick-fire century in the first Test when his side were 43 for three is testimony to that the fact that he is not afraid of taking on bowlers, despite England being in a precarious position. But his lack of experience in that No.3 position might make England a touch hesitant playing him there. But if he is tipped to play in that position sometime in the future, it will not be a bad idea to play him there. But whether England will do so in such a crucial Test is to be seen. ALSO READ: Jonny Bairstow believes he is in the best form of his career

Joe Root at No.3

Root’s numbers do not give any sort of indication that he will be an ideal No.3, but he has not had many opportunities at that position.
Although, Moeen has been drafted into the side solely as a bowler, he is no mug with the bat. He has an average of close to 30 and also scored a vital half-century coming in at No.7. Moeen has never batted at No.3 in his 13 Tests so far, but could turn out to a blessing in disguise for England. Not many will be expecting him to come so up the order. He is a good player of pace bowling and equally good against spin. He could turn out to be dark horse in the England batting line-up. ALSO READ: England drop Gary Ballance for Jonny Bairstow

England have made the right call, dropping Ballance. He did not have the right technique in tackling short deliveries. The fact the he always remained deep inside his crease, expecting the short ball everytime too added to his woes as the bowlers would surprise  him with full deliveries, which would eventually lead to his downfall. England will be hoping come make a resounding comeback after the demoralising defeat at Lord’s.

(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)