Rory Burns and Joe Denly can open, and they are joined by Keaton Jennings, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid – but great sides have a rock solid opening pair
Perhaps Ed Smith has lost his touch. Almost for the first time since he became England’s national selector in May he has announced a Test squad without surprises. Generally this is a good thing, suggesting stability, the ship on a steady course and sailing smoothly towards its destination with the usual, reliable crew. But that is not quite the case at the moment.
Great sides have a rock solid opening pair and, whoever Smith and his fellow selectors picked on Friday, that was not going to be the case for England this autumn when they play three Tests in Sri Lanka in November.
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