Piece by Alec Stewart today, I've reduced it a bit as apparently we're not supposed to put full copy and paste jobs in.
BBC Sport - Alec Stewart column: Life after Andrew Strauss
I have no doubt that Trott and Bell have the skills to succeed as openers, but why would you want to move them from a position where they have been exceptional performers and potentially weaken an area of the team that is functioning well?
My preference would be to choose someone from the county game. The selectors will no doubt have been sizing up potential Test openers for some time to allow for injuries and or loss of form, just as Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor were lined up as middle-order reinforcements.
The candidates at the top of the selectors' list will possibly be Hampshire's Michael Carberry and Yorkshire's Joe Root.
Carberry, who played a Test against Bangladesh in 2010 when Strauss was rested, has unfortunately struggled with injury and illness in recent times, but he is a proven player at domestic level and someone who I think can succeed at international level.
Potential England openers: First-class records this season
Joe Root (21)
Inns 22 Runs 937 HS 222* Ave 49.31
Michael Carberry (31)
Inns 18 Runs 514 HS 84* Ave 34.26
Varun Chopra (25)
Inns 25 Runs 843 HS 109 Ave 35.12
Nick Compton (29)
Inns 20 Runs 1,339 HS 236* Ave 89.26
Root has impressed for England Lions and did his chances no harm at all with a double hundred for Yorkshire against Hampshire in July. Players who can turn their centuries into "daddies" are the ones who will really catch the selectors' eyes because it shows they have the appetite and desire to score big runs.
Beyond Carberry and Root, a couple of others who could also be in the frame are Varun Chopra and Nick Compton .
Chopra is a player I have followed from his early days at Essex through to his current position at the top of the Warwickshire order in the first division.
He has really grown in stature since his move to Edgbaston, scoring back-to-back double hundreds at the start of last season and forcing his way into the England Lions side. He has been more solid than spectacular this summer but he understands his game a lot better now and at 25 he should be coming in to the most productive part of his career.
BBC Sport - Alec Stewart column: Life after Andrew Strauss
I have no doubt that Trott and Bell have the skills to succeed as openers, but why would you want to move them from a position where they have been exceptional performers and potentially weaken an area of the team that is functioning well?
My preference would be to choose someone from the county game. The selectors will no doubt have been sizing up potential Test openers for some time to allow for injuries and or loss of form, just as Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor were lined up as middle-order reinforcements.
The candidates at the top of the selectors' list will possibly be Hampshire's Michael Carberry and Yorkshire's Joe Root.
Carberry, who played a Test against Bangladesh in 2010 when Strauss was rested, has unfortunately struggled with injury and illness in recent times, but he is a proven player at domestic level and someone who I think can succeed at international level.
Potential England openers: First-class records this season
Joe Root (21)
Inns 22 Runs 937 HS 222* Ave 49.31
Michael Carberry (31)
Inns 18 Runs 514 HS 84* Ave 34.26
Varun Chopra (25)
Inns 25 Runs 843 HS 109 Ave 35.12
Nick Compton (29)
Inns 20 Runs 1,339 HS 236* Ave 89.26
Root has impressed for England Lions and did his chances no harm at all with a double hundred for Yorkshire against Hampshire in July. Players who can turn their centuries into "daddies" are the ones who will really catch the selectors' eyes because it shows they have the appetite and desire to score big runs.
Beyond Carberry and Root, a couple of others who could also be in the frame are Varun Chopra and Nick Compton .
Chopra is a player I have followed from his early days at Essex through to his current position at the top of the Warwickshire order in the first division.
He has really grown in stature since his move to Edgbaston, scoring back-to-back double hundreds at the start of last season and forcing his way into the England Lions side. He has been more solid than spectacular this summer but he understands his game a lot better now and at 25 he should be coming in to the most productive part of his career.
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