One play that I'm always puzzled on, in terms of lack of selection, is Ben Foakes. I know he's a wicketkeeper, but he's a bloody good batsman and has a lot of talent.
I'd still be tempted in Aus to go with Hales opening & Hameed at 3 & challenge him to do the Warner role of getting us off to a flyer. Hales lasting 50 balls with be more productive than Stoneman or Westley scratching round for 8 runs off 40/50 balls.Problem is there is no exceptional player smashing the door down to get in.Hameed, Jennings, Stoneman, Westley, Malan, Duckett & Ballance all had good chances & not grasped it....who is next Northeast, Clarke?? Or back to the list again?
I honestly can not see Hales lasting 50 balls on fast pitches in Test match conditions.
Quote from: olaftab on September 08, 2017, 12:59:34 PMI honestly can not see Hales lasting 50 balls on fast pitches in Test match conditions.Maybe not but nor will any of the others we've tried and at least we know that Hales can score big runs in international cricket (albeit in a different format).
I actually think Hales would be fine on Aussie wickets, because the bounce is true and the ball isn't going to swing much. I still like Malan people say he hasn't grasped a chance but he's got a couple of 50s and his 20 in this game was pretty good in the context of what has happened. He's shown ability to gut it out.