In his six Tests back he hasn’t quite scored the runs he would have liked. The right-hander’s inclusion means Northamptonshire’s Ben Duckett, who opened with Cook in Bangladesh, will move down to No4 with Jos Buttler of Lancashire, the other spare batsman in the squad, forced to wait his turn alongside Yorkshire’s Ballance, who averaged 19.9 in six Tests since his recall last summer.Ĭook, who stopped short of naming his full side as he and the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, ponder conditions and the make-up of their bowling attack, said: “I can’t give my team as we haven’t trained yet and seen the wicket but I can tell you Has will open the batting and Ben will bat at No4. Of greater relevance to Cook before a five-Test encounter with India in which the home side begin as strong favourites, is the decision to install a new opening partner in Hameed, who will become the 10th batsman to assume the position since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012.Īt 19 years and 297 days of age, Hameed will also be England’s fifth youngest Test cricketer and the youngest since Ben Hollioake against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1997, with his first cap coming on the back of an impressive county season in which he scored 1,198 first-class runs. Cook, announcing the reshuffle on the eve of the first Test, also sought to clarify comments given in a recent interview regarding his future as captain, insisting it is “business as usual” and that, as has been the case since he was sacked from the one-day role in late 2014, he continues to weigh up his position on a series-by-series basis.
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