England's mental fragility comes under scrutiny as Joe Root and Alastair Cook raise the alarm

NICK HOWSON AT EDGBASTON: The current skipper and his predecessor identify the key area of concern after the second Test defeat to New Zealand

PLAYER RATINGS: Matt Henry and Devon Conway star as England's young batters struggle

New Zealand complete thrashing of England to claim series win

Well that was disappointing, wasn't it?

Sir Alastair Cook shuffled his way into the cricket media with such subtlety you'd be forgiven for having missed it completely.

Having only retired in 2018 and while the team contains fresh faces he knows some of the key senior figures better than anyone, including his successor Joe Root.

Consistent with his character, Cook has not yet established a particular character within the commentary box. He is neither particularly insightful nor waspish. There is an argument that he is too close to do his job properly.

That veil dropped for the first time after New Zealand crushed England in the second Test at Edgbaston, to condemn Root to his first home series defeat as captain.

Speaking to the BBC, who are carrying highlights of the Tests, he produced his most noteworthy contribution, an uncharacteristic two-footed lunged on the current batting line-up who have been embarrassed over the last 10 days.

"The problem I have with this batting line-up is when the pressure comes on they can't handle it, they make the wrong decisions," England's all-time leading run-scorer told BBC Sport.

"(Rory) Burns, 85 runs behind, he nicks a second ball playing a really big drive. That isn't technique, that's mental frailties under pressure.

"They're going to have to look at themselves, assess the situation and be honest in these next five or six weeks. This is what Test cricket is: cricket played under pressure. They need to find a way."

^{Cook has combined his Essex swansong with media duties for BBC Sport}

Having scored 12,472 runs and faced 26,562 deliveries in Test cricket, what 'chef' doesn't know about resilience at this level isn't worth knowing. It might be that the best thing England's top seven can do between now and the India series starting in August is to consult their most successful ever batter.

"For me it is more a mental thing, managing passages of play, having clarity in your own game, how you're going to manage certain bowlers, different angles, different conditions and doing that consistently well over a series or innings," Root said while speaking with the written press. "That is somewhere we can be a little bit smarter on occasions. 

"I've got that horribly wrong on occasions. As the leading run-scorer in this squad, currently, I feel like I've put pressure on those guys by not scoring myself. I've compounded that situation with that. 

"Ultimately it is about being really honest about your own performances, your dismissals and how you set up your innings and being better."

Head coach Chris Silverwood said he was open to anything to arrest England's batting frailties, but it seems as though his captain has not yet lost faith in the youngsters.

Changes are inevitable. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will give the line-up some stability and star quality. What the return of the stellar cast masks over is these issues are not just exclusive to these Tests.

Giving young players freedom to play their natural, sometimes idiosyncratic games on stages such as these have been among the central mantras of Root's England. Granted, there are worse hills to die on and perhaps it will bear fruit further down the line, but the skipper shows no sign of backing down even with India and Australia looming.

^{The likes of Zak Crawley will return to their counties to find form}

"It would be the wrong time to start panicking and trying to rip up all the hard work we have done for such a long time," he said. "It is something we've historically done going into major tournaments and big Test series and it has made things even worse. 

"It is about these players taking what has happened this week and making themselves better for it, become more resilient off the back of it and learning some hard lessons which from time to time you have to be able to do in this format of the game. We shouldn't shy away or be scared of that and come back a better team for it."

By the time India are back in town for five Tests starting at Trent Bridge on August 4, England's players will have played seven-and-a-half weeks of international white-ball matches, Blast group games and Hundred preliminaries.

The final two rounds of the County Championship group stage are scheduled for early July too, not that the previous nine made much difference.

"First of all take a few days, reflect on what has happened," he advised. "When the opportunities come to go back to their counties to play white-ball cricket, take it. 

"Regardless of the format, getting that confidence behind you or hitting the ball again in good strong areas is a really good way to come back off a series where you've struggled. 

"I've found a change of format is sometimes a really good way of getting your mind into a good way of scoring runs again. Sometimes a score is all you need.

"Everyone needs to score runs."