Paul Collingwood insists England must choose six specialist batsmen to have a chance of hanging on to the Ashes this winter.
Since regaining the Urn by defeating Australia 2-1 in last summer's series, coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss have picked only four front-line bowlers in their XI in favour of bolstering their batting line-up.
England's attack has sometimes looked weak and lacked depth since Andrew Flintoff's retirement from Test cricket, while the unresponsive Kookaburra ball, which England will use in Australia, suggests they may need five bowlers.
Yet Collingwood, who has become a mainstay of England's middle order, has urged Strauss and Flower to stick to their current strategy.
"To me, an extra batsman is probably the more sensible route to take," said Collingwood.
"Sometimes, when you have four seamers, one of them doesn't bowl too much anyway.
"We have done very well with the three seamers and Graeme Swann has played a pivotal role to give them a rest.
"We're in a healthy position because we can rely on him to bowl his off-spin in any conditions and then we can rotate the seamers at the other end."
