Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow in three-way battle to retain England spot from Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes is on the other side of the world but his imminent return has given England’s top order plenty to play for in the rest of the ODI series against Australia which resumes at the Gabba on Friday.

It will be one of three who makes way for Stokes whenever he pulls on an England shirt again. Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow are a trio of talented, shot-playing batsmen who would command a regular place in almost any other side in the world.

But when Stokes comes back Joe Root will resume his place at No 3 and it will be a choice between Hales, Roy and Bairstow for two opening spots. Jos Buttler is a genius one-day batsman and the side’s keeper so is safe and it would take a massive drop in form for England to leave out Eoin Morgan and change the captain with only 18 months to go before the World Cup.

Roy is untouchable for the time being after his record breaking 180 at the MCG on Sunday. The other two have Friday’s match in Brisbane and the rest of this series to ensure they too can feel confident of staying in the side because nobody wants to drop out of team with every chance of winning the World Cup in 2019. Getting back in the side could be tricky.

Bairstow has fought hard for his chance. He has played 33 ODIs in six years and only became a regular last summer when he replaced Roy as an opener. He has never let England down, scoring runs in every position, but has always been the easiest player to leave out. Some cricketers just seem to fall into that position.

“I have worked my arse off to get to where I am to fight for a position in the side and I like to think every time I have come in whether that be in a one-off game over the last two years when I have got man-of-the-match or whether it be batting at four, six, keeping wicket or opening the batting I would like to hope I have come in and done well enough to keep my spot,” he said. “I have been asked to open the batting in six games and I have scored two hundreds in those games.”

Bairstow made 100 and 141 against West Indies last summer and Hales would appear the most vulnerable. Roy and Bairstow were preferred ahead of him to open at the MCG and Hales is the weakest fielder of the three. But it was not that long ago he was scoring 171 and setting a new high in ODI cricket that was only broken by Roy on Sunday.

England can live without Stokes the batsman, but it is his bowling they miss in one-day cricket. With only five bowlers in the side Morgan has nowhere to turn if one of them is collared, which invariably happens to somebody in a 50-over game.

Stokes would have covered some of the overs of the under-performing Woakes and even the expensive Adil Rashid at the MCG but both had to press on and work through their full allocation in his absence.

England are likely to be unchanged at the Gabba on Friday and are in a better state than Australia. Josh Hazlewood has a virus and Tim Paine missed training today with gastroenteritis. Pat Cummins is due to be rested for this match and will not be called up as cover if Hazlewood is not well enough to play.

The Gabba is where this tour started to unravel. Bairstow was back in the press conference room where he failed to explain his so-called headbutt on Cameron Bancroft as England lost the first Ashes Test and became a laughing stock too. “Everyone knows how much that was blown out of proportion. Even at the end of the series we had a beer with their lads even they said it was the perfect opportunity to blow something up which is exactly what happened,” he said.

England have only beaten Australia once in ODI cricket at the Gabba, back in 1999,  but times have changed and they go into this game with confidence sky high.

England: Roy, Bairstow, Hales, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Moeen, Woakes, Rashid, Plunkett, Wood.

Australia: Finch, Warner, Smith, Head, Marsh M, Stoinis, Paine, Hazlewood, Starc, Tye.