Ashes 2015: Jonny Bairstow replaces Gary Ballance for third Test as Ian Bell moves up order

The man who was dropped after the 2013 Ashes were won has been recalled to save the 2015 campaign. Jonny Bairstow will replace his Yorkshire colleague Gary Ballance in a reshuffled England batting order aimed at repelling Australia’s menacing fast bowlers.

Bairstow’s deserved selection after a county summer of plenty has also forced the selectors to take a huge gamble which has no obvious prospect of success. Ian Bell, the veteran of 112 Tests stretching back 11 years, will be promoted to the prime position of No 3 from 4, and Joe Root, endlessly prolific at No 5, will move to 4.

After them will come Bairstow, in his sixth coming as a Test cricketer since he made his first appearance four years ago. Bairstow had made the most formidable of cases with five Championship hundreds for Yorkshire, the best side in the land, at an average which is above a hundred.

James Whitaker, the national selector, did not specify the reasons for Ballance’s dropping but then there was hardly need. He might have tried to justify Bell’s elevation.

“Jonny has worked extremely hard at his game and his record for Yorkshire speaks for itself,” said Whitaker. “He fully deserves this opportunity. Gary was naturally disappointed to miss out on this occasion.

“However, we feel that he will benefit from some time in county cricket to rediscover his form. He has already had plenty of success at international level and as selectors we are confident Gary will play a significant role for England in the future.”

If any reinforcement of his case were needed, Bairstow supplied it with his latest century in the match against Worcestershire in Scarborough. It could not have been more timely, with the selectors needing to act decisively after the humiliating 405-run loss at Lord’s in the second Investec Test which has left the series tied at 1-1 but with Australia in the ascendant.

“I am very pleased to have been called up,” said Bairstow. “Consistency-wise I think I am in my best form and striking the ball well. I have been very positive at the crease this season and will try and take that into the Ashes series.”

Ballance, who is horribly out of form, was the obvious candidate for omission, and otherwise the 13-man squad is unchanged. He will come again as a Test batsman, such was his record until recently, but it will almost certainly not be at first wicket down.

That position for the time being will be filled by Bell, whose experience rather than form has saved him. Had there been anybody in the shires who was remotely up to the job, Bell, who has averaged 20.85 in his seven Tests this year, would also have been left out.

As it is, he has been trusted with perhaps the toughest role in the team. England keep shedding top-order wickets cheaply and the surest way to stem the flow, if an opener falls to the new ball, is at No 3.

Bell has played 38 of his 194 Test innings for England at No 3, scoring two of his 22 hundreds and averaging a shade below 40, four runs lower than his overall average. On the other hand, Root has been constantly formidable at No 5 in the past year and shifting him now invites disturbing the balance of nature.