England bought themselves time with their win against Scotland to ponder whether they have the best batting combination to make a World Cup impact. The protracted nature of this tournament means England, with one match in the next 14 days, can carefully consider if they should finally let Alex Hales loose when they meet Sri Lanka on Sunday. England on Tuesday returned to Wellington, scene of their criminal defeat by New Zealand, where the immediate World Cup future of Gary Ballance will be very much at the top of their agenda in the coming days. Alex Hales - who has yet to appear at this World Cup - hits out during training in Wellington last week . The brilliance of Moeen Ali in the 119-run win over the Scots papered over the cracks in the England batting line-up that were epitomised by Ballance. England’s decision to bring Ballance in at the last minute ahead of their World Cup opener against Australia has yet to be justified, with the Yorkshireman looking out of form in scoring 10 in each of the three matches. That means England must decide whether they should resist more changes and give Ballance another chance to show he can be as effective in one-day cricket as he was in the Test game last summer or introduce the dynamism of Hales. Gary Ballance trudges off after another poor innings comes to an end against Scotland . Moeen Ali has been England's standout batsman so far after his hundred against Scotland . Hales in an intriguing one. His Twenty20 form appeared to guarantee a proper chance in 50-over cricket but India exposed limitations in his technique last summer that led to England preferring Moeen at the top of the order. There have also been concerns about his discipline and attitude but Mark Ramprakash, the England batting coach, made a point of praising Hales' maturity when he said last week that the Notts batsman was ‘knocking hard on the door.’ The question is, if England do not trust Hales enough to give him a chance now, presumably at three with James Taylor continuing at six, then there is little point in him being here and they should have brought a different spare batsman. Hales watches on from behind the stumps as Ballance lets fly during training in Wellington . England could, of course, go back to Ravi Bopara and give themselves an extra bowling option too but they seem to have lost all faith in his bowling while believing his batting in the Tri-series did not warrant a place here now. It seemed illogical for England to change a settled line-up at the 11th hour before this World Cup but, three games in, they need to have a good hard look at Hales in the nets over the next four days and not be afraid to make a switch again.
England have lost two of their opening three World Cup matches .
Gary Ballance came in to the team late but has struggled at No 3 .
Powerful opener Alex Hales could be given chance against Sri Lanka .
England bought themselves time with their win against Scotland to ponder whether they have the best batting combination to make a World Cup impact. The protracted nature of this tournament means England, with one match in the next 14 days, can carefully consider if they should finally let Alex Hales loose when they meet Sri Lanka on Sunday. England on Tuesday returned to Wellington, scene of their criminal defeat by New Zealand, where the immediate World Cup future of Gary Ballance will be very much at the top of their agenda in the coming days. Alex Hales - who has yet to appear at this World Cup - hits out during training in Wellington last week . The brilliance of Moeen Ali in the 119-run win over the Scots papered over the cracks in the England batting line-up that were epitomised by Ballance. England’s decision to bring Ballance in at the last minute ahead of their World Cup opener against Australia has yet to be justified, with the Yorkshireman looking out of form in scoring 10 in each of the three matches. That means England must decide whether they should resist more changes and give Ballance another chance to show he can be as effective in one-day cricket as he was in the Test game last summer or introduce the dynamism of Hales. Gary Ballance trudges off after another poor innings comes to an end against Scotland . Moeen Ali has been England's standout batsman so far after his hundred against Scotland . Hales in an intriguing one. His Twenty20 form appeared to guarantee a proper chance in 50-over cricket but India exposed limitations in his technique last summer that led to England preferring Moeen at the top of the order. There have also been concerns about his discipline and attitude but Mark Ramprakash, the England batting coach, made a point of praising Hales' maturity when he said last week that the Notts batsman was ‘knocking hard on the door.’ The question is, if England do not trust Hales enough to give him a chance now, presumably at three with James Taylor continuing at six, then there is little point in him being here and they should have brought a different spare batsman. Hales watches on from behind the stumps as Ballance lets fly during training in Wellington . England could, of course, go back to Ravi Bopara and give themselves an extra bowling option too but they seem to have lost all faith in his bowling while believing his batting in the Tri-series did not warrant a place here now. It seemed illogical for England to change a settled line-up at the 11th hour before this World Cup but, three games in, they need to have a good hard look at Hales in the nets over the next four days and not be afraid to make a switch again.
finally let Alex Hales loose when they meet Sri Gary Ballance will be very much at the top of last minute ahead of their World Cup opener but they seem to have lost all faith in his