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Talking Cricket: Bayliss knows there’s work to do, but where does he go next?

The size of the job ahead is not lost on Trevor Bayliss and as the champagne corks flew to celebrate England’s Ashes victory, his reaction to a crushing defeat in the final Test itself was the biggest positive.

Bayliss was never going to get caught up in the euphoria. All the interviews and opinions given to preview his reign predicted a pragmatist. That is what England have got. And that is what England undoubtedly need.

Complacency has often been a word thrown at an England side that has shown glimpses of greatness but is yet to fulfil its potential. From now on, feet will be kept on the ground, something that has not been the case in recent years.

This series could easily have gone the other way, and Bayliss knows that all too well. Had Joe Root not been dropped early on in the first Test or had Ryan Harris been fit for the Aussies, just maybe there could have been a very different outcome.

Bayliss immediately pointed to the development of this youthful side in the aftermath of the Ashes. There has been a changing of the guard in the last year. Inevitably, there is more to come.

Mistakes in selection were made in the West Indies as Jonathan Trott played where Adam Lyth clearly should have. The Yorkshireman may never recover his Test career from the bashing of his early exposure to an Ashes series.

Adil Rashid is likely to come into the side as the second spinner against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates but he too is untried, another opportunity missed in the Caribbean.

Since the start of the summer though, England have looked forward. Director Andrew Strauss made this perfectly clear early in his tenure by sealing the door shut on Kevin Pietersen.

Now the biggest questions are who are the contenders to take England to the next level?

Mark Wood was the stand out performer of the new order but he will have to joust with Steven Finn to support Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Mark Footit and Liam Plunkett are next in line and there is an ever growing list of options thereafter with the Overton twins, from Somerset, the latest exciting additions.

As this column has made clear, the fast bowling reserves are in healthy stock so heading into the winter the greatest task is to mould the batting line up.

Lyth’s time is certainly done for now. The explosive Nottinghamshire right-hander Alex Hales could well be the next man to open alongside Alastair Cook. The England one-day batsman has already made a name for himself on the international stage - something that appeared a major hurdle for newcomer Lyth.

Moeen Ali is the other leading contender to climb the order, allowing Rashid to slip in as second spinner without too much disturbance of the team. Few seem keen on this option though, which leaves England with their biggest dilemma - how do you fit two spinners in the side?

We still wait to hear news of Ian Bell’s future. He did a fine job at three but the clock is ticking loudly for a man who will be remembered as very good but not able to reach the level his potential promised.

In fact, Bell would solve a problem if he took the decision out of the selectors hands.

Then Ali could slip in at three and it wouldn’t look as clumsy a stop gap as shoving him up to open, where the agreement is that he could do a job against Pakistan but would be desperately exposed by the pace of South Africa immediately after.

One name from the past will be desperately clinging to the hope that he can at least get on the ticket for the winter. Nick Compton’s face, like a good number of others, didn’t fit and maybe it still doesn’t; time will tell how much of a consideration that is during the Bayliss era.

The Middlesex opener has three matches of the County season left, two against leaders Yorkshire and fellow challengers Warwickshire, to stack up the runs and make his case. His strongest argument is that he and Cook produced England’s best post-war average for the opening pair.

The next step is the younger generation like Compton’s teammate at Lord’s Sam Robson and Durham’s Mark Stoneman - while there’s a lot of excitement about another of the Yorkshire top order, Jack Leaning.

The middle order is far from straightforward either but Gary Ballance will be on the plane this winter despite being dropped mid series against Australia. The talent he has already displayed on the world stage will surely overcome the footwork that was exposed this year.

Nottinghamshire’s James Taylor, who captained the one-day side in the washed out international in Ireland this year, appears to be a forgotten name when it comes to the Test side. He shouldn’t be discounted though as another fine season in Division One confirms.

Cast your minds back a little further and James Hildreth appeared to have a big future ahead of him. The Somerset batsman has never made it beyond a Lions call up for England, but at 30 he is coming into his prime and he was the first batsman to 1,000 runs in Division One this year.

For that accolade, Hildreth was very nearly pipped to the post by the man who was meant to solve England’s spin problem, Scott Borthwick.

The Durham leg spinner has seen his wickets haul dry up in recent seasons but was given the nod in Australia to make his Test debut when Graeme Swann retired.

His development with the bat has seen him rack up 1,000 runs for a third straight year and if Rashid, or Moeen, have a problem against Pakistan then Borthwick could be the second spinner England need.

None of the answers are easy but in their short time in charge Bayliss and Strauss appear to have their strategy in order and maybe next time they will have more confidence to savour the bubbly a little more.