Published: Jun 01, 2016, 11:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 01, 2016, 11:01 AM (IST)
Having won back to back matches to take an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka, England head coach Trevor Bayliss has backed under fire Nick Compton and Steven Finn to return back to form in the final Test at Lord’s. Despite winning the series, the form of both Compton and Finn have been a talking point, so much so that another failure may see them getting dropped. While Compton is assured of getting another chance to show his talent in the final Test, Finn may find a competitor in Jake Ball, who was the 12th man in the last match. ALSO READ: Bayliss: England to improve to attain No.1 in Test’s
Speaking about keeping an unchanged squad, theguardian reported Bayliss saying, “The team has been a winning team so there is no reason to change it just at the moment. We wanted to let people know the squad nice and early so they can prepare for the next match.”
He also spoke about Compton, who has scored a mere 31 runs in three innings. “It would be a concern for him that obviously he’s not scoring as many runs as he would like. Whenever anyone’s out of form with the bat or the ball there’s always that little bit of a worry, more from their personal point of view.”
“But I thought in a short second innings he handled it pretty well and he looked like he hit the ball in the middle of the bat. Next week’s Test is on his home ground so we all want him to score runs and be a part of this team going forward.”
England will play a dead-rubber against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. With the series already won, the hosts will look to keeping their winning run continue, with ODI and T20I matches soon after. After this series, Pakistan will visit them for 4 Test’s, 5 ODI’s and a solitary T20I. England can move upto 2nd in Test rankings if they win three of their next five Test’s.
