England undecided on Alastair Cook's opening partner
While the fans and pundits have already made up their mind about Alastair Cook’s new opening partner for England in Tests, the Captain has denied all the speculations. Even through the comeback man Jonathan Trott is widely expected to open the innings alongside him, Cook has revealed that no decision has been taken yet.
The selectors also picked Adam Lyth in the squad for the 1st time since he finished as the top run-getter in the County Championship last season. Even though Trott batted at number 3 for England previously, Gary Ballance has now made it his own due to some outstanding performances. So it is unlikely that he will be asked to go down the order in order to accommodate Trott.
"We're lucky in one sense that we're choosing between two very good players. Ever since Straussy announced his retirement we haven't quite found consistency in that position so whoever gets that chance gets the opportunity to try and nail that down. But we haven't discussed that yet,” said Cook.
He further went on to praise Trott for his comeback after the hardships he went through in Australia during the previous Ashes. “Trott has almost demanded selection and it's great for me to see him back in an England shirt. He's a great guy and if he gets his chance he'll be desperate to do well. It would be his 50th game as well which is a great achievement if he gets there. You don't know 100% if he'll be fine until he's put out in the environment but Trotty's done everything we've asked of him. He feels confident in himself and he's just looking forward to taking that next step. What we do know is he's a quality player. You don't have his stats and that weight of runs behind you without being a quality player. When I saw him in Brisbane I would have been surprised if he'd come back but it's a huge credit to the work he's done off the field and the effort he's put in. That obviously shows his desire to come back to play for England," he said.