England’s top-order woes live another day

England fought back valiantly with the ball in the first half of the day. After KL Rahul drilled Ollie Robinson’s second ball of the morning into the hands of cover, James Anderson did what James Anderson does: he kissed the edges and held the ball aloft to the punters for another five-wicket haul, his 31st in Test cricket and seventh at Lord’s. While there were dropped catches and missed run-outs, India still found a way to crumble from 278-3 to 364 all out. At this point, there should’ve been hope for England. Pure, unperturbed hope that they could find a way back into a Test they seemed to have lost sight of within the opening day. But this is England’s Test side in the manic summer of 2021, and so it was time for that party-crashing caveat: what’s to come from the batsmen?

It was, as you’ve probably clocked by now, the same old story. Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were watchful from the offing, battling for 14 overs before tea for a total of 23-0. They survived and survived, and then survived some more, and fought off the movement of the new ball. But a hint of comfort in their opening stand never arrived; never was there a sense that a stirring counterpunch was about to follow.

Sibley, after all the hard work, lasted just two balls in the final session, his innings ended with a chip to short midwicket off the relentless Mohammed Siraj. A pattern has formed for the Warwickshire opener: he blunts the new ball as if his life depends on it – a key part of the job spec – but he just can’t seem to go on to brighter and better things. Fifty-seven runs in his three knocks this series have come off 247 deliveries and the playbook seems too thin at this moment in time.

But while Sibley trudged off, hope came knocking on the door once more. His name: Haseeb Hameed. The story remains – even after what was to unfold – extraordinary. This was the kid who looked the part and more against India in 2016, holding his own alongside Cook and winning plaudits from Kohli. Then he was averaging 9.70 in a County Championship season, suddenly lost in the red-ball rubble. He rediscovered his love at Trent Bridge and, after a warm-up ton against India last month, here he strode out, a superhero at No.3 with the powers to cure English cricket’s batting ills. What came was a first-baller as Hameed played inside the line to a pitched-up Siraj delivery. After a five-year wait, it was all over. Just like that. It really is a cruel game.

And so to 23-2, with Joe Root walking out to pick up the pieces of another broken beginning, his life as a cricketing Phil Connors granted another extension. He cut and drove and finished the day unbeaten on 48 off 75. So typically Rootish.

Burns, who joined Root for a rebuilding partnership of 85 and fell just one run short of a half-century, deserves his dues too. In fact, after a fine series against New Zealand, he’s having a thoroughly decent summer. Today he reeled off back-to-back pulls for four off Siraj and, despite the moving parts, there’s real grace when he leans in on the drive. But can he find just a bit more consistency to turn himself into the elite opener England so desperately need? Can he be the one whose runs, at the very least, cover up for the failings of others? The jury’s still out.

England finished the day on 119-3: not out of this match, but not in control of it either. They dropped Zak Crawley and brought in Hameed. Burns and Sibley kept it together against Bumrah and Ishant with the new ball, and the left-hander came so close to raising his bat for a fine fifty. But the problem remains and the worries are yet to go away. England’s top-order woes live another day.