The coach of the England Cricket Team Trevor Bayliss has said that they would not two spinners on the pitches of United Arab Emirates against Pakistan as the pitches there would be slower and Pakistan bats well against spin.
England played only one specialist spinner in the Ashes series against Australia, who was the all-rounder Moeen Ali. They had played Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar against Pakistan in the 2012 series against Pakistan.
England has been playing Joe Root as the part-timer spinner lately, who has been effective in their own playing conditions, as he has been working as a partnership breaker. Root has picked up 8 wickets at an average of 34 this year.
Moeen Ali has been England's third highest wicket taker this year and he has picked 23 wickets but his average has been below par 43.65. But he was very influential against India last year as he was the second highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 5 matches.
Bayliss was not satisfied with the performance of his team in the second and the fifth test they lost. The margin of error for England will be very less against Pakistan as they were whitewashed 3-0 last time and lost 2-0 against them in 2005.
Despite their Ashes victory, England have a number of question marks ahead of the series against Pakistan. They need to find a new opening partner for Cook (likely Alex Hales), make a decision on who will bat at number 3 (anyone but Bell), determine whether Bairstow is the answer at number 5 (I'd imagine it is still his job to lose though it is possible Moeen gets moved up to 5 and Bairstow makes way for the second spinner) and establish a second spinner (it is now or never for Rashid, although Gareth Batty and Scott Borthwick will come into consideration).
I'm still a believer in Gary Ballance and so would go with a starting XI of:
[quote author=dillinger10 link=topic=99791.msg652466#msg652466 date=1440484632]
Despite their Ashes victory, England have a number of question marks ahead of the series against Pakistan. They need to find a new opening partner for Cook (likely Alex Hales), make a decision on who will bat at number 3 (anyone but Bell), determine whether Bairstow is the answer at number 5 (I'd imagine it is still his job to lose though it is possible Moeen gets moved up to 5 and Bairstow makes way for the second spinner) and establish a second spinner (it is now or never for Rashid, although Gareth Batty and Scott Borthwick will come into consideration).
I'm still a believer in Gary Ballance and so would go with a starting XI of:
Though given Trevor Bayliss' recent comments, if Bell does decide to carry on, he will indeed be selected. ::dead::
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Kevin Pietersen appears to be thinking along similar same lines as he suggested Hales in for Lyth, move Moeen Ali up to 5 and bring Rashid in to replace Bairstow, though he would stick with Bell in the team.
Reading the tea leaves this morning, it would seem very likely that Bell will indeed carry on and bat at number 3 during the upcoming series against Pakistan. Given England's problems with finding an opening partner for Cook, they can't afford to have a walking wicket batting three to compound matters further. A number of writers have opined that Bell's experience in the team is invaluable, but what good is experience when he is sat back in the shed after 10-minutes at the crease?
