Selection shake-up looms for England

England cricket could be set to disband its selection panel and shake up the way the national team is picked in the wake of their Lord's Test defeat to Pakistan.

And former player Graeme Swann has warned the home side could be "hammered" this season by Pakistan leg-spinning sensation Yasir Shah.

Reports in local media suggest England's Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss, the Ashes-winning former Test captain, is set to back Australian coach Trevor Bayliss in a selection panel rift after James Anderson was left out of the Lord's defeat.

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Strauss is expected to overhaul the selection panel in September, after Pakistan's tour is completed, with sweeping changes widely expected.

The changes could see the captain and coach, plus Strauss, take responsibility for selection with a network of scouts, lead by assistant coach Paul Fabrace, who has strong connections to the domestic competitions, reporting in.

Such a move would bring cricket more in line with other elite sports where the head coach or manager takes advice from a network of individuals but ultimately has sole say on selection issues.

Quick Single: Inflated squad betrays indecisiveness

Bayliss and captain Alastair Cook were overruled on picking Anderson for the series opener that Pakistan won by 75 runs. Both were willing to take the word of England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, who had been adamant he was fit to play after overcoming a shoulder injury.

Bayliss was outvoted by the rest of the selection panel, which also includes its chair James Whitaker, Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell and Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser. Cook sits in on meetings but does not have a vote.

There has been increasing reports of a growing sense of disquiet between England's coach and captain and the selectors, with yesterday's announcement of an inflated 14-man squad raising eyebrows.

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Such a large squad is almost unheard of for England during a home summer.

It was reported there was also discord between Bayliss and the selectors over the middle order, with the coach wanting Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler before being overruled by the selectors, who chose Gary Balance.

Anderson and Stokes, plus Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid, were all added to the England squad for Friday's second Test at Old Trafford, while Toby Roland-Jones was returned to his county.

Swann advocated England should play both Rashid and Moeen Ali in Manchester, where more grip and turn is expected to aid the slow bowlers, after Shah's match-winning haul at Lord's propelled him to the world No.1 ranking.

"It was the same old, same old story at Lord’s. England can’t play leg-spin for toffee," Swann wrote in his column in The Sun.

"England’s batsmen must find a way of dealing with Pakistan wizard Yasir Shah, or they could be hammered in this series.

"Imagine what he could do this week in the second Test at Old Trafford, where he is likely to gain much more grip and spin.

"The batters need to take a long, hard look at themselves and learn from the one or two who played Yasir well. They did it by using a straight bat and showing patience.

"Most of the rest showed they might not be good players of spin, but that is no excuse for throwing their wickets away."