England's batting issues apparent once again as Pat Cummins exposes soft centre

HUW TURBERVILL AT LORD'S: It was a surprise that Tim Paine gave England first use, and they should have punished him for his benevolence. But he was right. He knows this side has a soft underbelly

Oh dear, the misery continues. There was one team playing ‘Test’ cricket at Lord’s, and one who was not…

Questions must now be asked about England’s approach, and their selection policy. It is clearly a case of square pegs in round holes.

It was a surprise that Tim Paine gave England first use, and they should have punished him for his benevolence. But he was right. He knows this side has a soft underbelly.

The trouble is people don’t seem to ‘get’ Test cricket anymore. Even Paine. The match is reduced to four days. “There’s been a bit of weather around,” Paine said. “A shortened game – I think probably the best way to win it is to take more wickets.” Joe Root agreed. He would have bowled too.

Why? It was a decent surface. England’s batsmen made poor use of it. The average total in the ‘Root era’ is 293, hence why England have dropped to No.4 in the Test rankings.

The Jason Roy experiment is not working out. Everyone feared he would be too aggressive to open in Tests. He would play away from his body. His three balls from Josh Hazlewood were chastening. A short, wide long hop that he tried to smack down to Baker Street. A beauty that he missed. Another jaffa that he nibbled at. Gone.

Root has made five centuries and 10 halves since he was made captain. When he was in the ranks, he scored 11 and 27. He has been bowled or trapped lbw 38 per cent of the time since being handed the armband, compared to 24 per cent before. He averages 41 as skipper, compared to 48 overall.

If England lose this series, that would be back-to-back Ashes losses under him, and he may well take a pragmatic view that he wishes to concentrate on his batting again.

Rory Burns battled well again. People actually criticised him for leaving too many balls at Edgbaston. So what? He did it again here. Yes his technique is a bit tangled, and the ball that removed him hit his bat high up, but it was a great catch, and he batted well. He is having a good series.

^{Pat Cummins has bowled beautifully in this series so far}

Joe Denly probably played his most accomplished Test innings so far, even if he only made 30. Kent fans think he is being made a scapegoat for England’s failings. He is only playing his fifth Test. He stood up to Pat Cummins well.

What a ferocious spell that was. It was relatively brief… you cannot compare it to Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee in 1974/75 (England’s players exhaled sharply on the plane as they left Australia for New Zealand that winter… they were glad to escape with their lives); Courtney Walsh v Mike Atherton in 1993/94, or Allan Donald v Atherton 1998), but it was intensely savage for a time. The 31st and 37th overs, Cummins’ ninth and 12th, would have put the fear into most batsmen.

In the former he whacked the shoulder of Denly’s bat, and he then smacked him on the arm, before sending a fearsome bumper over his head. Later he thumped Burns on the arm, then chest, then removed him. In his 16th over he clanged Chris Woakes on the helmet with a brutish ball.

And when Jofra Archer came in, Australia’s plan was clearly to get their revenge in first, with a series of precision bouncers. Cummins softened England up for most of the day, and the recalled, and impressively accurate, Hazlewood took advantage.

Cummins claimed his 100th Test wicket at Edgbaston, in only his 21st match – the second-quickest Australian quick to reach the milestone, behind Charlie Turner in the 19th century.

He looked wonderful here, a pedigree paceman. At 26, and with a frustrating series of injuries seemingly behind him, he looks poised to become one of the greats.

Jos Buttler has batted pretty well since being restored to the side last summer – he scored 938 runs at 40.78 in that spell before this series (although with only one century).

There is no greater test than facing a rampant Australian pace battery in the Ashes however, and his three innings have so far reaped 18 runs. They have targeted him mercilessly.

^{Jos Buttler has struggled for runs in his opening three innings}

At least Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes helped England to a respectable total.

The debate about specialists seems to swing around like changes of government.

Adam Hollioake’s band of merry men winning in Sharjah in 1997, followed by limited-overs specialists Ian Austin, Vinny Wells and co populating the 1999 World Cup squad, but then back to the Test players appearing in the 2003 World Cup.

Déjà vu. The philosophy of national selector Ed Smith seems to be that the best one-day players make the best Test players. The team that won this year’s World Cup was pretty much expected to go straight into the Ireland Test and the Ashes. Those who had not played in the 50-over tournament, like Stuart Broad and Jack Leach, have unsurprisingly looked the freshest.

Perhaps now we must look again at players with first-class pedigree and form populating this Test team – especially with the three formats allowing little respite in the calendar.

Sam Northeast has scored 815 runs at 58.63 for Hampshire in nine Division One matches this summer. Dawid Malan has made 885 at 63.21 in Division Two for Middlesex (and let’s not forget the left-hander has an Ashes century at Perth on his CV).

Is it time for specialists again? How about a batting unit of Burns, Zak Crawley or Dominic Sibley, Joe Root, Sam Northeast, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes (or Sam Curran/Moeen Ali), Jonny Bairstow (or Buttler/Ben Foakes) anyone?

To celebrate England winning the World Cup you can subscribe to The Cricketer for just £20.19. Click here to learn more