England coach Bayliss touts Bairstow, Stokes or Buttler as possible choices for no.3

Despite enjoying a convincing 211-run victory over Sri Lanka in Galle, current no.3 Moeen Ali continued to look unconvincing

England coach Trevor Bayliss has touted Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler or Ben Stokes as possible solutions to their ongoing problem position of no.3.

Despite enjoying a convincing 211-run victory in Galle to take a 1-0 lead in their Test series against Sri Lanka, current no.3 Moeen Ali failed to prove to the likes of former England captain Michael Vaughan that he has a future in the role in Test cricket.

Ali has batted throughout the order for England all the way down to no.9, and replaced England captain Joe Root at no.3 in the second innings of their fourth Test against India at the Ageas Bowl in August.

However, in the first innings at Galle he was bowled by Sri Lankan seamer Suranga Lakmal for a golden duck, while in the second he holed out to off-spinner Dilruwan Perera for just 3. Altogether, in the five innings that Ali has played since moving to no.3, he has scored just 82 runs at an average of 16.40.

^{Ali was dismissed for a golden duck in Galle}

Bayliss revealed, however, that Ali's spot at no.3 was not set in stone, and that in their final Test against India "if we’d bowled first, and Mo had bowled 40 overs, Buttler was going to bat number three".

“Going forward, Jonny’s an option; but there’s Ben Stokes as well. We think in England, Stokes has got as good a technique as anyone else to bat at three.

“Those two are quite capable of batting there. It’ll be a bit of a discussion and we’ll sit down with those two as well.

“Moeen has had a few opportunities, let’s be honest, up the order and at this stage hasn’t really taken them. He’s been thrown around a little bit but sometimes that’s the lot of an all-rounder in the team.

“I think he’s had the most success in that middle-lower order. Long term we’re starting to get a little closer to a stable order. But there are still one or two decisions to be made.”

^{Stokes could be England's no.3 according to Bayliss}

The stats back Bayliss' assessment up. When batting at no.7, Ali has not only made his highest score of 155* but also averages 44.90 over 23 innings. Of all the positions in the batting order, his best record is at no.4, where he averages 51.20 over five innings.

None of Bairstow, Buttler and Stokes have ever batted at no.3 for England, nor have they featured regularly in the position for their counties. Since Jonathan Trott played his last Test at no.3 for England in 2013, there have been six different occupants of the position. 

Bairstow was unfit for the first Test, and will face stiff competition to get back into the team as wicketkeeper from current gloveman Ben Foakes, who enjoyed something of a dream debut - scoring a century and taking a stumping.

There is an expectation that Bairstow will be fit for the next Test. However, if he is to get back into the team, there is a possibility that it could be as a specialist batsman coming in at no.3.