Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said that he hopes "England have not consigned Jonny Bairstow to the scrapheap" in the wake of their series defeat in Pakistan.
England's batting line-up was found wanting in favourable conditions for spin bowling in the last two Tests of the series. Pakistani spin twins Noman Ali and Sajid Khan ran through England in both matches, a stark contrast to the first Test of the series where England piled on 823-7 in their first innings on a particularly flat pitch in Multan.
Several England batters came under the scanner for a succession of low scores, none more so than England vice-captain Ollie Pope. Pope finished the series with 55 runs from five innings, continuing his inconsistent year in Test cricket that has increasingly become more famine than feast.
Pope has scored three Test hundreds in 2024 but has also passed 10 in just 13 of his 25 innings. Vaughan is of the view that Pope is not a suitable No. 3, writing that the best players in that position are "pillars of calm and control" and that Pope "doesn't seem able to soak up difficult periods."
"If Pope and England are honest with themselves they have to recognise that even his best innings have lacked control," wrote Vaughan in the Telegraph. "I enjoy watching him bat when he’s in, because there’s lots of strokes and it’s exciting. But it’s full of risk.
"One thing I am certain of is that Australia and India would love to see him walking out at No. 3 next year. If they got one of the openers out early, which will happen across those series, they know they have a great chance of a crack at Root early."
In Vaughan's eyes, England captain Ben Stokes should move himself up to No. 3 to leave open another spot in the middle order. "Stokes has an outstanding defence against seam, and clearly isn’t going to bowl too much," said Vaughan. "Stokes is the one player who could soak up pressure."
Intriguingly, Vaughan also argued that Jonny Bairstow should be in the frame for a recall. The 35-year-old veteran of 100 Tests was dropped ahead of the 2024 home summer after a quiet tour of India earlier in the year. He remains centrally contracted for another 11 months but has not played for England in any format since this year's T20 World Cup.
"Another thing I’d add is that I really hope England have not consigned Jonny Bairstow to the scrapheap," said Vaughan. "Used right, he has the potential to be extremely destructive alongside Smith in that middle order."
"With Stokes at No 3, Cox or Bairstow could bat in the middle order. I like that balance for taking on Australia, who have Nathan Lyon. Stokes struggles against him, but if he’s up the order, Lyon shouldn’t be bowling as much. If he is bowling a lot, then it means that Pat Cummins and the other seamers are not getting full use of the Kookaburra, which goes soft very quickly. Cox or Bairstow would join a string of right-handers who could take on Lyon and the tiring seamers."
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