With Nick Compton dropped and England without the bowling of Ben Stokes there were several selection decisions to make for Alastair Cook and the England selectors ahead of the naming of the squad for the first Test against Pakistan. And Cook decided to head to the bar for a beer for possibly the biggest of all.
Compton's England career looked over before the squad was announced after he failed to score big in the series against Sri Lanka and his name missing off the list for Lord's next week confirmed that his time as an international batsman is dead for the second time.
That left a gap to be filled in the most important part of England's batting line up, the number three. Rumours were that the selectors would call Durham's Scott Borthwick back to the squad for the first time since the Ashes series down under but this time as a batsman instead of a spinner.
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However instead England called up Gary Ballance to fill the gap left by Compton but he won't bat at three with Joe Root promoted up the order and James Vince also going up to fourth for Ballance to bat at five. The captain revealed that the plan was hatched with Root over a pint:
"I did not have to persuade him at all. We had a beer after Sri Lanka, as captains and vice-captains do, and chewed the fat over a lot of issues. This is one of them that came up. He understands the reasons for it. We have not always got off to the best starts over the past 18 months so hopefully moving him there will do it."
The Yorkshireman is England's most talented batsman but he has previously rejected calls for him to be in the important number three role. However his form hasn't been great this summer and in the three match series against Sri Lanka he only scored 87 runs at 21.75 with a top score of 80 so a move up the order will be less likely to disrupt his form.
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Cook went on to say that having the 25 year old coming in after the openers was important for the development of the side as they attempt to become the number one Test side in the world adding, ""For us to be the No 1 side in the world with the players we have at the moment it seemed to make sense for him, our best player, to go in at three. We have a couple of other players who could bat four, five or six. At one, two and three there have been more discussions, and this feels a natural thing now."
(Via The Times)
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