Thing is, I'm not a fan of Compton, but he's hit 2 centuries in his last 5 test matches. For me the time to drop him was before the NZ tour. I suspect Bairstow would be the one to drop out if Pieterson is fit. The ashes is not the place to push Root up the opening slot for the first time imho. not sure about other opening options to be fair. The best young cricketers at the mo' appear to be batting 4,5,6 for their counties.
Playing as if he has forgotten the basics, not to mention frightened to death. I wonder if the Western Terrace mob gave him a few derisory comments that put him off? There is no doubt that Joe Root should have opened the batting in this match, just to see if he can keep up his phenomenal form from that position. I think he would have done and will get the chance to do so in the not so distant future. Nick Compton belongs to the Ted Dexter/Colin Cowdrey school of cricketer. He could be a great opener but he is not there yet, despite the two centuries. Were it not for his famous surname I doubt he would have had a sniff of the test team.
If he goes back to Somerset and he gets runs I'd stick with him, if he fails for them he can't be picked for the Ashes if he's not mentally right.
He was easily the best county batsman last season. He has every right to be in with a sniff of the test team, given our need for a specialist opener.
He's lost all his confidence though. While Cook got to his 50 in no time, all Compton could manage was a scrappy 7. I think he's been found out by the NZ bowlers and it's only going to get worse against a decent Aussie attack who'll no doubt be relishing the chance to get at Compton from the off. I think he needs some time away from the England team so he can work on his technique because he just can't deal with anything swinging just outside off stump. Root is only 22 and he'll just get better and better. He will open the batting eventually for England so an Ashes series will be valuable experience for him and fast track his development. He's opened the batting for Yorkshire and I reckon he's upped his game enough since that he can do it internationally. Pietersen will come back in so it's just between Compton and Bairstow as to who gets dropped. Bairstow has showed some promise recently and I think it would be unfair to drop him over Compton.
yes but given his current England form if it wasn't a case of the face fitting he would have been out, not saying never again just that some players get more of a chance than others depending on...................
He's going to get that as he's not in the 1 day side. I agree he's likely to get better, I just wonder if we'd lose something opening with him now. It would have been good for him to gain more opening experience outside the test team, but that's not going to happen. I know he came into the Yorkshire team as an opener, but I think he's made most of his runs as a middle order batsman.
