Trevor Bayliss has backed Moeen Ali as the answer to England’s opening conundrum but admitted Jos Buttler could be dropped for next week’s first Test against Pakistan. Moeen’s place at the top of the order alongside Alastair Cook will be confirmed when England’s Australian coach sits down with his captain on Saturday to discuss team selection for the opening match of the series in Abu Dhabi.
The Worcestershire all-rounder will become Cook’s seventh opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss three years ago despite failing twice with the bat in England’s final warm-up match against Pakistan A. Moeen made scores of seven and 13 on a day England’s innings ended on 198 for 11, the dynamic of these warm-up matches meaning batsmen were allowed multiple knocks in the same innings.
Overall it means when the first Test starts on Tuesday, England will be picking a player who has never opened in first-class cricket and who has scored only 42 runs in three innings this week following his knock of 22 in the opening tour match. Yet with Alex Hales, who made nine from 13 balls here, the only other alternative Moeen appears the least-worst option.
“I think at this stage Mo has probably got his nose in front,” said Bayliss. “It’s probably not ideal. We’ve got Alex Hales here who we know can be an explosive batter. But I think Mo has shown he’s a good player against spin, he can play the pace bowling and he’s handled the pressure during that Ashes series. Mo is a good enough player that he could actually be the answer. Yes, it’s not perfect, we know that, but Mo’s the type of player who could very well turn himself into that other opener.”
If the question of Cook’s latest partner appears settled for now, there are other issues that are less cut and dried. One of those is the position of Buttler, who found some batting form in Sharjah on Friday – but only at the second attempt. Buttler has endured a difficult few months, averaging only 15 during the Ashes and then being pulled out of action two games into the subsequent one-day series against Australia in an attempt to get him physically and mentally refreshed for the winter.
The burden of keeping wicket while maintaining form with the bat is difficult for the best of players. It is a balancing act Buttler has struggled with of late, the 25-year-old continuing his poor run with the bat when he scored one in the opening warm-up match on Monday.
There was a flicker of hope for Buttler here as he reached stumps unbeaten on 31. Yet that only came in his second knock of the day, after he had been dismissed for eight first time round following a lazy drive to cover.
Asked if the Somerset-born player had done enough to guarantee his place in the team for the first Test, Bayliss was far from unequivocal. “To be honest, I can’t confirm that,” he said. “His form has been a concern and for him as well. But it was good to see him out there looking like he was getting his touch back this afternoon and scoring some runs. But we’ve got to make a decision.”
That decision is between sticking with Buttler, surely the most likely scenario, or handing the wicketkeeping gloves to Jonny Bairstow, who scored an unbeaten 66 in the opening warm-up game to seemingly cement his place at No5 in the team for the first Test at least. But he was out for a duck in his second innings of the tour, edging Mir Hamza behind a ball after Buttler’s first innings came to an end, to leave the Pakistani left-arm seamer on a hat-trick.
To muddy the selection waters further, James Taylor, who reluctantly retired on 45 at lunch, came back out later in the day instead of Bairstow and finished with 61 after being allowed to resume his innings from where he left off. Bayliss described the possible choice between Taylor and Bairstow at No5 as “a good dilemma” but then added: “Playing them both is a possibility, definitely. Nothing’s off the table just yet.”
The only way to fit both players into the team, save for dropping a bowler, would be to drop Buttler. Ian Bell at least guaranteed his place with an impressive 53 from 100 balls and although Ben Stokes was out for a duck on Friday, the Durham all-rounder looks certain to play in the first Test.
