Former England coach David “Bumble” Lloyd has said that England should replace their current opening pair of Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed with Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow for the third Ashes Test at the MCG.

Burns (4) and Hameed (6) both departed cheaply in England’s first innings in the second Test at Adelaide and their second-innings partnership of 23 at the Gabba remains their highest of the series so far.

The left-handed Burns has been under the microscope since his first-ball dismissal to Mitchell Starc at Brisbane and with Hameed holding a high score of 27 after three innings in the series, Lloyd has called for both to be dropped.

“These England openers are a sorry sight. Both Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed are playing across the line,” Lloyd told the Daily Mail after play on day two of the Adelaide Test.

“It doesn’t matter how the bat goes back in the stance but it has to come back to address the ball in a straight line. All the talk was about the pink ball under lights – well, it didn’t do anything!

“All the Aussie bowlers had to do was put it in the right place and the openers went across the line again. They are walking wickets I’m afraid.”

In their place, Crawley and Bairstow should come in, argued Lloyd. Crawley was dropped by England earlier this year after averaging 11.14 across 14 innings in 2021, while ODI opener Bairstow has never batted at the top of the order in Tests.

“I’d change both openers for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. England might as well open with Joe Root and Dawid Malan because they are repeatedly in so early anyway!

“Or how about going back to that plan of picking one of the one-day openers? Only England got the wrong one in Jason Roy when they tried it last time.

“The other one has got six Test centuries. He’s called Jonny Bairstow and I’d open with him and Zak Crawley at the MCG.”

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