England need to find themselves an Elgar to stop this wretched run

SIMON HUGHES AT TRENT BRIDGE: The most damning statistic of the day is that England, after their disintegration on the second day at Trent bridge, have now been bowled out in a session three times in the last three years

The most damning statistic of the day is that England, after their disintegration on the second day at Trent bridge, have now been bowled out in a session three times in the last three years.

That is bad enough in itself. What makes it worse is that the last time it happened before 2016 was in 1938. It is true that this was an elongated session because of the early-morning rain. But still, being dismissed in only 38 overs on a respectable second-day pitch is pretty shambolic. 

Why is it happening? It's important to say first that England are not alone in suffering regular bouts of collapsitis. India, after all, only lasted 82 overs in total (ie two innings) in the Lord’s Test. And they lost their last five wickets for just 22 runs in this match.

The simple fact is that batsmen around the world do not spend as much time negotiating a red ball as they used to. Look at the last dozen innings of any batsmen in this Test. The vast majority (apart from in the case of Alastair Cook) will be in one-day cricket against the white ball. 

Take Keaton Jennings. Since July 5 his highest score in seven white-ball games and three red-ball is 50 in a T20 match for Lancashire made off 33 balls against Worcestershire. Or Ollie Pope - his recent record is mainly a run of breezy 20s in the Vitality Blast.

^{Is Rory Burns nearing a Test call-up?}

There is a general mindset to attack the ball, go at it hard. Jonny Bairstow even stands on leg stump, showing the bowler half the stumps so he can free the arms at anything vaguely wide. Batsmen don’t like to leave the ball.

Anything on the traditional fifth stump lines - that old corridor of uncertainty - is regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat. If the ball deviates there might be a nick. Then it’s just a matter of whether someone catches it or not.  

The fact is in this match so far India have made the ball move more from a better line and length than England and their catching has been exceptional.

You could point the finger at England’s batting, but apart from Keaton Jennings - who left a hesitant bat hanging outside off stump a fraction too long and Pope (unluckily caught down the legside), they were all genuinely bowled out.

Cook, Root, Bairstow and Stokes could do little about the balls that dismissed them. It was a perfect day for bowling, still, warm, overcast and damp. The Indians exploited it brilliantly. Their overall pace was higher - especially Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami - than England’s.

They bowled straighter and fuller and Pandya bowled a number of Anderson-like deliveries. They deserved their rewards. 

Last year in this Trent Bridge Test England lost on a similar pitch to South Africa. Their star was a gritty left-handed opener Dean Elgar who stuck it out and laid a vital platform in South Africa’s second innings. England need to find an Elgar themselves.

Perhaps that man is the guy who is the season’s leading run-scorer  - Surrey’s Rory Burns. And guess who he has been batting with at The Oval - Elgar.