Vaughan wants Bairstow to replace Ballance for third Ashes Test

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has urged selectors to replace out-of-form Gary Ballance with Jonny Bairstow for the third Ashes Test in Edgbaston.

Vaughan said he would just bring Bairstow in the playing XI and then decide whether to go for Joe Root at number four and Bairstow at five, the BBC reported.

Ballance has scored just 134 runs in the eight innings he had played this season, including 14 in the second innings at Lord's as Australia beat England by 405 runs to level the Ashes.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Bairstow hit his fifth century of the season in Yorkshire's County Championship game against Worcestershire on Sunday and has posted a strong statement against the English selectors who are going to meet today.

Former Australian bowler Jason Gillespie has also backed Vaughan's point, saying that Bairstow is in a very special place right now and his average in the championship this summer has just tipped past 100 with the last innings.

Bairstow has made 14 Test appearances with a batting average of 26.95 and he last played in Sydney in January, 2014 during the Ashes.