Where to now for battling England?

It tells a sorry story when your No 9 looks your most accomplished batsman. So what must do England do next?

Jason Roy of England is bowled by Nathan Lyon on the last day of the first Test at Edgbaston

It tells a sorry story when your No 9 looks your most accomplished batsman, but no Englishman batted with more fluency, composure and discernment than Chris Woakes at Edgbaston.

Of course the Warwickshire allrounder looked at ease batting on his home ground, but Woakes, eventually last man out, made a perky 37 off 54 balls. The 30-year-old strode to the crease and promptly drove his first ball, from Nathan Lyon, through the covers for four as if to ask his colleagues what all the fuss was about.

In fairness, the fuss was that Lyon was bowling quite magnificently on a surface that was giving him considerable assistance, while at the other end Australia’s seamers were pounding at the pitch with genuine aggression and pace.

Fifth-day batting in a Test match is not supposed to be easy. As it says on the tin, it is the ultimate test for a batsman. And the truth is that the game was lost for England in many areas and periods long before this, but that is not to say that this alarming collapse does not raise any number of uncomfortable questions.

One of the most pertinent questions is: why was Woakes batting at No 9 below Moeen Ali? It will be a shock if he does not move up one place for the second Test at Lord’s, with Ali omitted.

Woakes will certainly be playing at Lord’s — he averages 9.75 with the ball there having taken 24 wickets in six Tests — and it would be a surprise if England make any alterations to their main order up to No 7 (it would smack too much of panic), but there is no doubt that it will be an important match for many of these batsmen.

The pressure is on. Could it be Joe Denly’s last chance? His slide down to No 4 in this Test — I would have preferred him to open and Jason Roy to bat at No 4 — should have given him the opportunity to prove himself in this environment, but he failed badly in scoring 18 and 11.

In the first innings, a familiar fault re-emerged as his head toppled over to the off side and he was leg-before. Here the Kent batsman decided to be positive against Lyon and twice swept him for four before pushing forward to edge to short leg.

When a batsman has to ask his partner about a review regarding an edge, you know it is only going one way. It was a dreadful and desperate decision.

For Denly, there was little excuse for any rustiness coming into this game. His late omission from the World Cup squad always looked beneficial to him from an Ashes perspective, and so he was able to play six County Championship matches in preparation, scoring 504 runs at 56 in Division One.

He was red-ball ready, but is he Test-match quality? His cover drive is especially pleasing on the eye, but he is 33. Four Tests is hardly an extended run, but time is short, as is an average of 21.75. He must prepare to play the match of his life at Lord’s.

Others such as Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler look short of red-ball practice. Bairstow played against Ireland at Lord’s but Buttler did not. Bairstow bagged a pair against the Irish, so they arrived in the same position really.

Neither looked remotely comfortable. Bairstow looked to play the ball a little later in the second innings, playing one lovely clip for four through mid-wicket off Pat Cummins that hinted at better form, but he had another poor match. Since the start of the 2018 summer he has averaged only 22.91 with the bat in Tests. He is much better than that.

If he is not careful, and his wicketkeeping in this Test was not as slick as it has been, Ben Foakes’s proponents — of which there are many — will become louder and louder in their pronouncements. Not that Foakes’s championship batting form for Surrey this season — he is averaging 30.06 — is necessarily anything to shout about.

As for Buttler, this match was a reminder of the challenges that Test cricket presents. He copped an excellent ball from Cummins but whenever the Australia fast bowlers bowled a good length to him, he looked vulnerable.

Both these batsmen have a break now before the second Test at Lord’s starts next Wednesday. They need to use it wisely, balancing rest and plenty of batting practice. All batting requires a rhythm but this is especially so in the longer form. They both need to rediscover their rhythms, as well as sharpening their shot selection. It is not just about hitting balls.

Which, of course, brings us to Roy. He was bowled, charging at Lyon, for 28. In any Test match that would raise eyebrows, but in a situation such as this, where a draw was England’s only realistic route to any sort of success, it was a dismissal that caused jaws to drop.

Yes, Roy is an aggressive batsman. That is why he was selected. England wanted him to bring his one-day international intent to the longer game. They wanted him to rattle the Australians. And it is true that blocking every ball here, especially against Lyon, would not have been a sage course of action. Even as good a technician as Joe Root was much troubled by him. Dying in the hole is as final as going over the top.

A balance is required, even if Andrew Samson, the statistician for BBC’s Test Match Special, uncovered a chilling fact that Roy’s longest first-class innings to date was only three and a half hours. That was a warm-up for some old-timers.

This was only the fifth ball that Roy had faced from Lyon. He had swept his first convincingly for four. Tim Paine, the captain, had decided to move his leg slip back to a short fine leg. Root, at the other end, conspicuously advised Roy of the move.

Roy decided to change his tactics and go down the ground. He was deceived in the flight and ended up heaving horribly. It was the image of the day. And as such it was awful, but batting is not about images, it is about decisions.

England need to work hard on that decision-making before Lord’s.

THE TIMES