Sri Lanka v England: Michael Vaughan predicts fluid batting order
Last updated on .From the section Cricket
England's Test team may break with tradition and go without a regular number three in their batting order, says Michael Vaughan.
Ben Stokes became the ninth man to bat at first drop in less than five years on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka.
"We're going to have to get used to England not having a number three set in stone," said ex-captain Vaughan.
England posted 285 in Pallekele with Sri Lanka closing on 26-1.
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Stokes looked reasonably comfortable in making 19 but his failure to convert his start to anything more substantial means England have now gone 50 Test innings without their number three scoring a century.
England's top order once again struggled as the tourists fell to 134-5 and 225-9 on Wednesday, before fluent half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Sam Curran elevated them to a total which appears to be above par.
Moeen Ali failed at number six, after being demoted from three, while skipper Joe Root - the last England batsman to score a Test century at three - was bowled for 14 on a pitch that turned from ball one.
England's last successful number three - a position considered to crucial to a strong batting line-up - was Jonathan Trott, who averaged 45.72 in 46 Tests before vacating the spot during the 2013 Ashes.
"It just may be they have different number threes," added Vaughan, who scored almost 1,500 runs batting at number three.
"What England have is a huge amount of depth. As a bowler, when you look at a batting line-up and see so much strength going down to number nine, you know you might be out there for a long period of time.
"I just think this Test match team might surprise us with a few decisions and batting formations over the next few years, but we'll just have to get used to it.
"We've almost got to rip up tradition with this group England have and accept there'll be personnel changes, different tactics. They've got so many options.
"It'll be fascinating to see and exciting to watch."
Name the nine batsmen to bat at number three since Jonathan Trott?
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At the moment England are getting 250 to 300 because 2 or 3 of the 6 or 7 very talented all rounders in the side are succeeding each innings - but it's a different matter when we need to make 500 to be competitive.
Actually Sir Geoff is always on the mark and is fair both in giving praise and in providing constructive criticism. Vaughan on the other hand is neither
The problem with plodding along as we have been whilst admiring our strength in depth is that we will always lose the top order cheaply before the inevitable fightback.
Test cricket needs more exposure so kids can admire and develop proper batting skills. BBC failed it
England haven't been a reliable batting unit, home or away, since Trott left the side. Trott was a grinder, a gritty batsman who gave away nothing. We've been playing shot makers in that position and, have unsurprisingly found ourselves 75-4 every test. Either make Root do it or keep looking!
Will England skip number 3 and go straight to number 4? It seems like a counter-intuitive break from tradition. But perhaps they'll request a number 12 to compensate for missing number 3.
So many unanswered questions. Guide us Vaughan with your inspired waffle...i mean wisdom
Have you seen Pope bat?
He is not, by any means, a Test no.3.
Good eye, potential, but a middle order batsman at some point in the future. Not a no.3.
We do need to find some specialist top order players, but playing FC county cricket in April and September will never develop them. So maybe we should just have a top three of glorified nightwatchmen, to try and stick around long enough to take the shine off the new ball, then bat the specialists at 4-9?
The problem with a lot of pundits is they don't really follow the county game especially closely. Hence their suprise at things like Foakes being able to bat and Leach being the best spinner on show.
What next - batting order bingo ?
A settled top 4 is a mandatory requirement for any successful test team
He can block out pace bowlers for a while whilst the remaining opener beds in.
Is it a Yorkshire thing or can anybody play ?