Tuesday 27 October 2015 15:08, UK
England should rest Jos Buttler for the third Test against Pakistan and hand opener Alex Hales his debut, says Sir Ian Botham.
Buttler's poor run with the bat continued when he was caught at slip for seven off a superb Yasir Shah delivery in England's 178-run second Test defeat to Pakistan, which leaves the tourists 1-0 down.
The 25-year-old has scored 156 runs at an average of 12 since the start of the Ashes and Botham told Sky Sports that the time has come to hand the gloves to Bairstow, who kept in one of the pre-Test series warm-up matches.
Change
"England have got to think a bit about the next Test. Moeen Ali shouldn't be at the top of the order - he should be back at number eight in the order - then he can bowl," said Botham.
"England are never going to play him at the top of the order against South Africa so why do it here? Why not bed someone else in?
"Jos Buttler is seriously under the cosh. Maybe he needs a little break. Personally I would give Bairstow the gloves, bring Alex Hales in at the top and put Moeen Ali down the order.
"These are things that will be considered but I think England will make a change or two before the next game.
"Bairstow practices (with the gloves) most days if not every day; if Jos Buttler had a busted thumb he'd be doing the job anyway. He hasn't but he is out of form and it's sad to see that from a player with so much talent."
Trouble
England must win in Sharjah to level the series after Adil Rashid's battling 61 proved in vain on the fifth and final day of the second Test in Dubai.
Number eight Rashid almost batted throughout the final two sessions of the match to save the game for the tourists, who were bowled out for 312 with just 6.3 overs left.
Botham had no doubt where England slipped up after a first innings collapse of seven wickets for 36 runs on day three.
"I'd have a look at the shots played in England's first innings; that's where the trouble was and that's where the hole was dug. That's where the game was lost," he added.
"England had the perfect platform; they'd done all the hard work. To be bowled out for 242 from that position is like going back to the old days - England haven't done that for a while and they don't need to do it anymore.
"If they want to be the best in the world that cannot happen; if one guy gets out then the others have got to knuckle down. It was just a flurry of wickets. You can't come back in these circumstances, on these pitches against a side with good spin bowlers.
"You're asking for trouble and England got it. This game was lost well and truly in that hour on Saturday."
Terrific
Defeat was tough on Rashid, who posted his maiden half-century in only his second Test and shared stands of 60 and 55 with Stuart Broad and Mark Wood respectively.
"I thought Rashid played magnificently," said Botham. "He left the ball brilliantly. When you've been out there and you're just stone-walling it and stone-walling it, you do something eventually.
"It was tossed up there by Yasir Shah and it was a clever bit of bowling maybe, to tempt the shot.
"At the end of the day, most people were expecting this game to be done and dusted hours ago, so let's keep everything in perspective.
"I'm not going to hold anything against Rashid. I might have a word with a few of the other middle-order batsmen after that first innings.
"It was a terrific effort from him and Mark Wood and Stuart Broad too; they kept England in this game and prolonged it."
Watch highlights of day five at 5pm on Sky Sports 2, then don't miss The Verdict with Aamir Sohail, Bob Willis and Dominic Cork from 6pm.
