Today we have a guest spot from new writer Matt Gilby. Like many of us, he can’t figure out England’s thinking at numbers 3 and 5 in the order...

The squad for the first test against New Zealand was labelled too safe or too boring by some fans and pundits, primarily because of the retained allegiance to Craig Overton, Jack Leach, Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope.

Rob Key and Ben Stokes both emphasised their desire to “pick the best team” by recalling James Anderson and Stuart Broad. This decision was expected, but the selection of England’s top order to try and address the frailties seen throughout Joe Root’s captaincy has only provided more questions.

Ollie Pope has been one of England’s hot prospects since his Surrey debut as a teenager but had not batted at Number three in first-class cricket before the Lord’s test. Although an overnight fix was not expected, the 24-year-old was out for 7 and 10 in his maiden innings in that position, confirming the peculiarity of his selection.

Rob Key compared the decision to bat Pope at number 3 as similar to Jonathan Trott’s, who also began his test career at number 5 and did not have much experience at 3 before cementing his place there. The two are hardly comparable, however, as Trott had averaged 62.23 in his first 21 tests, with six centuries. Pope has now played 24 tests, averaging just 27.60 with one century to his name.

Jonny Bairstow was also shown faith by the selectors at number 5, having previously bought time with his century in the fourth test of the Ashes series in Australia, and Ben Stokes was impressed by his attacking start in the second innings of the New Zealand test, despite the Yorkshireman scoring just 17 across his two innings.

Unlike Anderson and Broad, the threat to Pope and Bairstow’s places are more immediate, and their potential replacement is in fine form and is already in the England dressing room waiting to seize his opportunity.

Yorkshire’s Harry Brook has averaged 151.6 in the 2022 County Championship and was unlucky not to receive his first test cap at Lord’s after being named in the 13-man squad. Whilst he is a number 5 at county level, the implication is that he could debut at number 3 or number 5.

England’s decision to use Pope at number 3 was always going to be a huge gamble but selecting another back-up with no number three experience is mystifying.

The likelihood is that Pope and Bairstow will be given chances in the second and third matches against New Zealand after Brook was released by the ECB to play in the T20 Blast this week. Both Pope and Bairstow must score runs at Trent Bridge or Headingley if they want to cement a place in the test against India in July with Brook’s form ensuring he will be given his chance sooner rather than later.

The England selectors’ policy for defining the best team based on the balance of international experience, county form or intra-squad relations will become more transparent as the matches and selections progress, with the Pope, Bairstow and Brook conundrum looking likely to be the first big call to make.

Matt Gilby

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