Mamis mit Herz untereinander » focus solely on batting.It

With James Taylor forced to retire due to a heart condition and Nick Compton solid rather than spectacular in South Africa this winter, spots are up for grabs in Englands middle order. So just where might the selectors be looking ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Thursday, May 19?Whether the decision-makers want wise old heads or fresh faces, there are a fair few options… Ian Bell Michael Atherton makes the case for Ian Bell to re-join the England test side for the series against Sri Lanka When left out of Englands tour of South Africa, many wondered whether it might be the end of the 34-year-olds Test career, especially as hed pondered his retirement from international cricket following Englands most recent Ashes triumph, the fifth of his career. What else is there for him to achieve?But with the sad news of Taylors enforced exit, suddenly there is a spot open for Bell and he is hungry to fill it, scoring 174 in Warwickshires opening County Championship game of the season against Hampshire. Also, lest we forget, Bell loves batting at five! In the 60 of his 205 Test innings he has batted there, Bell has hit nine of his 22 hundreds - his average of 48.25 bettering his career 42.69.Gary Ballance Ballance and Joe Root could be reunited in Englands middle order Potentially the next cab off the rank is Ballance, who played understudy as the spare batsman for the tour of South Africa. Dropped mid-Ashes last year when struggling to perfect a top-order technique batting at three, a move lower down the order could see him feel considerably more comfortable.Plus, Ballance hardly failed too greatly in his early efforts in Test cricket, scoring 1,194 runs in his first 15 Tests at an average of 47.76, so he would argue he deserves another shot. It could come at five, or perhaps England look to plug him in again at three, with doubts remaining over Compton, a man yet to get going this season.James Vince Nick Knight has called for England to pick Hampshires James Vince at three for the first Test against Sri Lanka Vince is another potential floating option should England choose for a greater middle-order shake-up. Long earmarked for Test success, the 25-year-old is a regular in Englands white-ball squads. Squads being the optimum word, as Vinces role has mainly been that of chief benchwarmer, with just four T20I - albeit impressive - performances to his name, and one rained off ODI against Ireland last summer.While its obvious the management like having him around the set-up, the main hindrance to Test recognition was seemingly a poor 2015 in the County Championship for Hampshire, Vince averaging only 28.58 as he struggled with the step-up from Division Two. But he has started well this year, striking a vital 119 against the reigning county champions no less, having come to the crease with his side 9-1 following Yorkshires mammoth 593-9 declared.Jonny Bairstow Could England pick Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler? Bairstow smashed a first-class career-best 246 in that Yorkshire innings, before smiting 198 against Surrey on Monday. Moving the wicketkeeper-batsman back up to five in the order would free up space for England to bring back Jos Buttler at seven. It would also mean that Bairstow - who had a tricky time of it behind the stumps in South Africa - can give up the gloves and focus solely on batting.It may be that Buttler is still absent from the side for the first Test against Sri Lanka, what with his IPL commitments for Mumbai Indians, but England could still choose to relieve Bairstow of the gloves and perhaps give an opportunity to talented keeper-batsmen like Adam Wheater of Hampshire or Surreys Ben Foakes.Jason Roy Surreys Jason Roy starred for England at the World T20 His place in Englands white-ball sides seemed under threat after a poor series in South Africa with just a combined 120 runs over seven ODI and T20I innings at the top of the order, but he bounced back emphatically at the World T20. Roy smashed 183 runs in six innings, at a strike-rate of 148.78, producing three particularly vital knocks to help England navigate their way to the final.Roy hit 43 off 16 balls in the record run-chase against South Africa, 43 off 39 against Sri Lanka to help book a semi-final spot, and then 78 off 44 in that semi win over New Zealand. His opportunity in Test cricket could come far sooner than expected. Trevor Bayliss is a big fan, and first division cricket this year batting at five for Surrey could be enough to persuade him to plump for Roy. Who would YOU pick in Englands middle order? Let us know by commenting below if viewing on skysports.com or tweet us @SkyCricket...Then head to Sky Sports News HQ and Sky Sports digital platforms on Thursday morning for first news of Englands Test squad to play Sri Lanka. Also See: Englands options: Openers Pundits pick England squad WATCH: Skys summer of cricket England fixtures/results Ecco Shoes Australia Wholesale . -- A deflected pass that landed in DeSean Jacksons hands. Ecco Shoes Clearance Australia . All of 46 seconds into the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 victory over Alex Ovechkins struggling Washington Capitals, Crosby assisted on Chris Kunitzs goal. http://www.cheapeccoaustralia.com/.The Williams siblings, with 25 Grand Slam titles between them, will have a couple of Madisons joining them, too.Madison Keys had a 6-4, 7-5 upset win over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Saturday night, and Madison Brengle beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 in an all-U. Ecco Shoes Wholesale . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one. Ecco Shoes On Sale Australia . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - James Harden scored 33 points and hit the winning jumper at the buzzer to lift the Houston Rockets to a 113-111 triumph over the Phoenix Suns. Donatas Motiejunas scored 15 for the Rockets, who blew a 16-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter but bounced back to win for the seventh time in 10 games. Josh Smith, Patrick Beverley and Corey Brewer all posted 14 points for the Rockets. We wanted to take the last shot, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. We flattened it out for James and James has been making big shots all year and hes got the ability to step back and gather, strong and goes up and shoots it. It was a big shot for us. Up to that point, we had done some very interesting things to allow them back in the game. Houston lost forward Dwight Howard to a right ankle sprain in the first quarter. He twisted his ankle after landing on a Suns player. Eric Bledsoe had 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Suns, who had their four-game overall and seven-game home winning streak broken. Isaiah Thomas scored 22 and Markieff Morris totaled 21 points for the Suns. Hardens layup with 6:11 left extended Houstons lead to 102-86, but Phoenix rallied frrom down five with 64 seconds left and eventually tied the game on Morris 3-point play.dddddddddddd He drove down the lane for a layup and was fouled by Joey Dorsey. Out of a timeout, Harden dribbled with the ball near the top of the key before moving to the left elbow. Thomas came to help defensively, but he was too late as Hardens jumper rattled through the basket. Well we didnt want to let him [Harden] beat us, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. We sent Isaiah with five, but he made a good play. Isaiah flew by him at that point, but we couldnt get it out of his hands. Great players make great plays. Houston was up 32-24 after one quarter and 60-52 at halftime. The margin was in double digits most of the third quarter and 87-77 going to the fourth. Morris, though, scored 11 in the final quarter, a period in which the Suns shot 59.1 percent. Game Notes Trevor Ariza had 11 points for Houston, which shot 52.4 percent ... Alex Len had 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which went 10-of-30 from 3-point range ... Gerald Green scored 15 for the Suns ... The Rockets beat the Suns by five in Houston on Dec. 6 and have won four in a row in this series. ' ' '