Ashes 2015: Trevor Bayliss says England will discuss changes
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England will pick their squad for the third Ashes Test against Australia on Tuesday, with head coach Trevor Bayliss admitting there are "some good players on the outside".
Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell are under pressure, with Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor in good domestic form.
"When you play badly, positions are looked at," said Bayliss, whose side were heavily beaten in the second Test.
Bayliss also hinted there could be room for England's one-day batsmen.
"Test cricket is becoming more and more like a one-day game anyway," said the Australian, whose first game in charge saw England beat Australia at Cardiff.
"You maybe don't have quite as many short balls bowled at you in a one-day game. But I think you get confidence from batting well anywhere. If you've got one-day form, there's no real reason you can't turn that into runs at Test level."
Bairstow and Taylor, who hit 139 and 291 respectively in the latest round of County Championship matches, have both figured in the England one-day team in the past year, while Bayliss's comments suggest players like Alex Hales and 50-over captain Eoin Morgan may be considered.
Hales, once rated as the best Twenty20 batsmen in the world, is yet to play five-day cricket while Morgan played the most recent of his 16 Tests in 2012.
It would be a surprise if Morgan, 28, were recalled - he averages just 10 for Middlesex this season and got a pair in his last four-day outing - but he has worked with Bayliss in both the Indian Premier League and Australian Big Bash.
| The likely contenders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Runs | Average | Centuries | Fifties | |
| Jonny Bairstow | Yorkshire | 906 | 100.66 | 5 | 3 |
| James Hildreth | Somerset | 1083 | 47.08 | 3 | 5 |
| Alex Hales | Notts | 732 | 45.75 | 2 | 2 |
| Nick Compton | Middlesex | 817 | 38.90 | 1 | 5 |
| James Taylor | Notts | 814 | 47.88 | 1 | 5 |
| Eoin Morgan | Middlesex | 61 | 10.16 | 0 | 0 |
| *2015 first-class statistics - correct at close of play on 20 July 2015 | |||||
Top order form 'a concern'
Bayliss is aware of England's top-order frailties - their third wicket has fallen with 52 runs or fewer on the board in eight of their past 14 Test innings - and says it will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting.
Lyth, Ballance and Bell scored 56 runs between them in their six innings at Lord's, while their Australia counterparts Chris Rogers, David Warner and Steve Smith amassed 616.
The third Test begins at Edgbaston on 29 July, with the series level at 1-1.
"It's on the mind of anyone when the team is not playing like you would like - those things are always in the back of the coach's and selectors' mind," said Bayliss.
"Two Tests ago they were selected for these first couple because they were considered the best players in the country. That doesn't necessarily change after only four innings.
"[But] it's a concern that we are three or four for 40, and they know that."
| England top order this summer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innings | Runs | Average | Highest | |
| Cook | 8 | 448 | 56.00 | 162 |
| Lyth | 8 | 200 | 25.00 | 107 |
| Ballance | 8 | 134 | 16.75 | 61 |
| Bell | 8 | 116 | 14.50 | 60 |
