England find durability with the bat but questions remain over two key players

SAM MORSHEAD AT EDGBASTON: All of a sudden, a World Cup in the trophy cabinet, sights could be realigned. And at Edgbaston there have been very real signs that some of the old skills of Test batting are being restored

Scorecard | Talking Points

Eureka, they’ve cracked it.

With all the focus on limited-overs cricket, explosive batting, gigantic targets and accelerated run rates over the past two years, England’s capacity to go long in Test matches has been somewhat diluted.

The urge to score has outdone the inclination to stay, and as a result totals have been low and matches quick. English batsmen have not so much occupied the crease as made the most of squatting rights, and it has felt like they have always been at risk of eviction.

Not here. Not this week. All of a sudden, a World Cup in the trophy cabinet, sights could be realigned. And at Edgbaston there have been very real signs that some of the old skills of Test batting are being restored.

England’s first-innings 374 against Australia took up fully 135 overs, 58 balls more than any other effort since the start of 2018. Rory Burns became only the third Englishman since the last Ashes series on these shores to see out more than 300 deliveries. Stuart Broad played his longest knock in terms of balls faced since that one-man rearguard at Trent Bridge in 2013. Joe Root did not mind waiting more than 50 deliveries for his first boundary.

^{Jonny Bairstow was dismissed cheaply}

These are not the numbers of men in a hurry. And while there was a customary collapse - from 282 for 4 to 300 for 8 - there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

That said, two key parts of the side - players who selectors would think thrice before dropping - are starting to present England with a problem.

Since the start of 2018, Jonny Bairstow averages a little over 25 in Test cricket, well down on his career equivalent of 35.

He has racked up seven ducks in that time - 25 per cent of his innings have not generated a run - and been dismissed for less than 20 on a total of 16 occasions.

Though he has certainly not been helped by England’s ‘child in an elevator’ approach to choosing a batting order - just press all the buttons and see where we end up - those statistics still tell the story of a man out of form against the red ball.

Much has been made of the nature of Bairstow’s dismissals - hard-handed swipes at the moving ball resulting in catches behind the wicket or bails being sent flying. There is a strong argument that his biggest strength in white-ball batting - that fearless manhandling of the notoriously lifeless Kookaburra - is his biggest weakness in long-form cricket. Bairstow’s Kryptonite, if you will. 

Here, it was the same old story, caught in the cordon slapping at a ball not quite short enough and not quite wide enough to cut. In 50-over fare, a relatively low-risk stroke. At Test level, with more catchers behind the wicket, and more chance of deviation off the seam, it poses a problem.

England had already lost a cluster of wickets at that point - 3-18 at the start of the day - and desperately needed recalibration. Instead, Bairstow played fast and loose, and paid the price.

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It seems daft to consider the Yorkshireman’s place in this side, given his undoubted natural ability, but right now the side needs more graft from the man whose job it is to coax runs from the tail.

Since making 93 from 144 balls against India in the first innings at Lord’s last summer, Bairstow has only spent longer than 64 deliveries at the wicket on one occasion - that gritty century in Colombo in November.

In his other 15 knocks, he has faced a combined 352 balls - an average of 23 per innings. As much staying power as a puppy that’s recently discovered its own tail.

That there is a ready-made replacement in Ben Foakes waiting in the wings - a man, let’s not forget, who has already proven he can make scores in Test cricket - will surely be weighing on Ed Smith’s mind. Jos Buttler could also take the gloves, allowing for the inclusion of either another batting allrounder like Sam Curran or an out-an-out batsman. 

It’s a curious conundrum, but worthy of serious thought.

Then there is Moeen Ali.

The grimace and grunt said it all.

TV cameras zoomed in on Moeen’s face to capture the essence of a tortured soul.

It is bad enough as a batsman to shoulder arms and find yourself bowled, and it is that little more embarrassing when you turn to find your off peg is uprooted. To have it happen to an offspinner… well, tomorrow may be one of those mornings Moeen wakes up wishing it had all been the invention of his subconscious.

It is well known that the allrounder is largely unflappable, but even he must be fighting off the nagging self-doubt that accompanies a meagre run with the bat.

Since the start of 2018, Moeen averages just 16 in Test cricket. In just 12 matches his overall average has nosedived from 33.2 to 29.24. After this latest failure, he has four ducks in eight knocks. 

That carefree lollop to the wicket feels more hesitant, somehow, and his authority at the crease seems faded, like a beautiful painting left for too long in bright sunlight.

^{Rory Burns' innings lasted more than 300 deliveries}

Moeen at his peak is such a joy to watch - an elegant variation of picturebook cover drives and strike-a-pose pulls - but there is nothing pleasuresome about seeing the allrounder with bat in hand anymore. You feel the crowd’s concern before he has even taken guard, and that sort of atmosphere must have some bearing on what happens next.

This is not what watching Moeen is meant to be about. It is like turning up at a Michelin-starred restaurant and being served beans on toast. And we are all poorer for that.

Like Bairstow, Moeen has lost the ability to stay put. 

Since the end of last summer, he has faced 331 balls in Test cricket, and 104 of them came in one innings - his 60 against West Indies at North Sound. That’s an average of just under 24 per innings. Even at No.8, he should be suffering from vertigo.

He still keeps his place in the side by virtue of his bowling. Since the Antipodes tour of 2017-18, only two other Test slow bowlers can lay claim to more wickets - Dilruwan Perera and Nathan Lyon. Both have played in more matches in that time and Moeen’s average, a shade above 27, and strike rate (a very fine 46) are massively superior to either.

But it must soon be time to face up to the fact that he is now in the side as a bowler, not even as a spinner who happens to be useful with the bat. 

Elevating Chris Woakes above Moeen in the order makes a lot of sense, especially when you take into account that the Birmingham boy’s 37 not out here lifted his Test match average above 30. That rises to 43.80 when it comes to games on these shores. 

Plenty to think about for England, then. But plenty to be pleased with, too, as this fascinating Test edges towards its denouement.

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