England's Test Opener Debate: Flexibility in Selection

Marcus Trescothick has thrown open the debate over England’s Test top order, insisting the side’s next opener in South Africa does not have to be a traditional specialist.

With Jacob Bethell due back from a knee injury for December’s tour, England’s batting order – and several careers – are about to come under sharp scrutiny.

Opener role up for grabs

Emilio Gay has spent his first summer as a Test cricketer walking out alongside Ben Duckett. There have been hints of promise: three half-centuries, some clean strokes, a sense he belongs. But he closes the season averaging under 25, numbers that drag the conversation back to the selection table.

Duckett, one of the senior figures in this dressing room, produced England’s only hundred of the summer, a fluent century against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in June. Since the start of the Ashes, though, his returns have slumped. He failed to pass 20 in the three-match series against Pakistan and his average in that period sits below 24. For a man charged with setting the tone, that is uncomfortable territory.

Into that uncertainty has stepped Jordan Cox. Initially Bethell’s stand-in at No. 3, Cox finally broke into the Test side this summer and has made the most of it, averaging over 42. He has opened in first-class cricket earlier in his career, a detail that suddenly matters a lot more now. If England decide their “opener” does not need to be nailed to the first-ball-of-the-day stereotype, Cox’s name will not be far from the discussion.

Bethell complicates it further. Touted for some time as a potential Test opener, he has already moved up to the top of the order in England’s one-day side. When he returns, he brings not just another top-order option but also left-arm spin – a skill that nudges him into direct competition with others in the middle.

Dan Lawrence, the other fresh face in the top six against Pakistan, has one significant advantage. His off-spin offers balance that England like, a reason many see him as safer from the squeeze. But Bethell bowls spin too, from the opposite arm, and that overlap will not be ignored.

Trescothick backs flexibility

Trescothick, one of England’s finest modern Test openers and a pillar of the 2005 Ashes triumph, has been interim coach for the Pakistan series. He now steps aside as Stephen Fleming arrives to take charge properly, but he leaves behind a clear view on how the game has shifted since his own 76-Test career ended in 2006.

“I reckon times have changed a little bit,” the 50-year-old said. “I think you look at your best batting line-up, however that fits up.

“If that's with a specialist opener, great. If not, I think you can plan around it in this day and age. Players adapt pretty quickly because they're chopping and changing formats.”

That is the crux of England’s new selection puzzle. Do they persist with a conventional pairing at the top, or do they simply pick their best seven batters and sort the order out later?

“You generally want your best top seven, however that looks,” Trescothick said. “Who that's going to be, I don't know. That's for someone else to work out.”

That “someone else” is Fleming.

Fleming era finally begins

Appointed Test coach in July, the former New Zealand captain watched from afar as England swept Pakistan 3-0. He now lands in the UK in the coming days to start plotting the South Africa tour with the ECB hierarchy.

He is expected to take in parts of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, with the ODI and T20 sides still under the command of his close friend and fellow Kiwi Brendon McCullum. Fleming may also spend time on the county circuit, getting a closer look at the domestic talent feeding into his new team.

When McCullum ran both red- and white-ball sides, he kept a single backroom group across formats, Trescothick among them as assistant. That era is over. A reshaping of the staff appears inevitable.

Former Australia batter Mike Hussey has already revealed Fleming approached him about a role. Reports in Australia say Hussey has turned it down. The search, and the reshuffle, continue.

Trescothick himself is waiting to hear where he fits.

He admitted he has a preference for his future role but refused to reveal it. “It's probably best I don't mention it at the moment because it may not be the case of what happens,” he said. “I love doing both formats. It's brilliant and I've been privileged to be in the position of assistant coach.”

Pietersen back in England colours

Amid all that change, one return dominates the headlines. Kevin Pietersen is back.

Twelve years after he was effectively sacked from the national setup following the 5-0 Ashes drubbing in 2013-14, Pietersen has been appointed as a consultant for the white-ball team. One of the most flamboyant and inventive batters England have produced will once again pull on the Three Lions, this time in a tracksuit rather than a playing shirt.

The 46-year-old’s first day back in the fold is Sunday, as he joins preparations for the opening T20 against Sri Lanka in Southampton on Tuesday.

“We've spoken already, to plan a little bit,” Trescothick said. “I gave him a couple of things that I wanted him to look at, to get his advice on.

“He is buzzing. Putting back on the shirt or the tracksuit, he is buzzing for that opportunity.

“Having his presence around and the knowledge he has about batting – he sees batting in a different light to many different people. If we can tap into that, it's only going to benefit the team.”

So England head into the winter with a reshaped coaching ticket, a returning maverick, and a top order braced for change. The question now is not just who opens in South Africa – it is what an England Test batter looks like in this new Fleming era, and who adapts quickly enough to stay on the ride.