Why Ben Stokes should not walk straight back into the England team

On Wednesday, England's one-day team produced one of the greatest performances in ODI history.

Told to bat first after losing the toss, Eoin Morgan's men didn't just set a new world-record score for a one-day international, they obliterated the old one and should have become the first international team to register 500.

England's 481-6 so overwhelmed Australia the hosts went on to secure a series-sealing victory by a mammoth 242 runs.

Alex Hales (147), Jonny Bairstow (139) and fellow opener Jason Roy (82) established an unprecedented run-rate against the shell-shocked men in yellow. And with Morgan then smashing 67 off 30 balls, it highlighted just what this team is capable of and why they are ranked No 1 in the world.

The thing is, all the while Hales was marmalising the Aussie bowlers to all corners of Trent Bridge, the underlying sentiment from the commentators was that he would be dropped as soon as Ben Stokes returns for the T20 series against India (which starts on July 3), no matter what he did in Nottingham, Durham and Manchester. 

Come again?

I'm all for competition for places, all for keeping players on their toes, but you do not drop someone who has recently scored 147, no matter how good the player waiting in the wings.

Many will say that Stokes is too good to not have in the starting XI. That his ability with bat and ball makes him invaluable. I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

And my argument for not bringing back Stokes is this - Hales is a better batsman and England's bowling attack is settled. It just bowled out an Australia side (albeit a weakened one) on a batsman-friendly surface for 239. Unlike the Test side, this England team doesn't need Stokes.

With Hales coming in at No 3, England's batting line-up looks truly fearsome. Yes, Stokes has the ability to score big runs quickly, but not at the consistency of Hales. And it's not like Stokes is in any sort of form with the bat or ball. He had a very average IPL, top scoring with 45 and picking up seven wickets in nine matches.

If anything, it should be one of the all-rounders that makes way for Stokes. But who? Moeen Ali? Not when he brings a spin option that compliments Adil Rashid. David Willey? Not when Willey provides a left-arm option that changes the angle of attack and can extract swing with the new ball.

As far as England's one-day team goes, Stokes could be the ultimate super-sub, brought in to the line-up if and when the conditions require. For now though, this confident, in-form, unified, winning England team should be left untouched.