Taha Hashim assesses Haseeb Hameed’s Ashes series so far.

The low scores build up, the technique gets picked apart and questions follow about who comes in next to pick up the poisoned chalice. This is the modern life of the England Test opener, the way it’s been for nearly a decade if you’ve not got a Sir before your name. Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed are both feeling the heat, but the former’s been through it before. For Hameed, this really is his first rodeo.

After showing some ticker with a couple of starts at the Gabba, the right-hander went the other way at the Adelaide Oval. The first signs were promising under the lights against the pink ball; he left well against Mitchell Starc and strummed a couple of cover drives. Jhye Richardson proved a tougher proposition, but against the left-armer there was rhythm and flow, clarity in knowing when to sit tight and when to fire. A chip to mid-on off the bowling of Michael Neser, however, sent the preamble to waste. When it came to the second innings, Hameed’s low hands – cited as a weakness against Australian bounce – were his downfall as he gloved behind a Richardson delivery.

Four innings in the series have produced 58 runs, and the verdicts are in. “Haseeb Hameed looks OK at the crease but his technique is too simplistic,” said Geoffrey Boycott in the Telegraph. Mid-way through the Adelaide Test, David Lloyd called for both openers to go, labelling Hameed and Burns as “walking wickets” before replacing them with Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow for the MCG.

This, you’d imagine, isn’t the nicest place to be. You’re under pressure because the runs, those precious things you’ve spent a lifetime accumulating, have stopped jumping off the blade at the most important moment. The cameras are on you out there and in the nets too. Every swish of the bat dissected, every subtle move inspected by your supporters and critics.

And yet in an odd way, there’s something stirring about all of this: the focus and debate over whether he’s got the chops to succeed in an England shirt. Go back 18 months and the question wasn’t about whether Hameed could cut it at international level; it was about whether he could still do it on the county circuit. After falling away spectacularly at Lancashire, the one-time golden boy had to look elsewhere to find a way back. Under Peter Moores at Nottinghamshire there came the early signs of a resurgence; a few half-centuries in the Bob Willis Trophy indicated that there was still a player there.

Twelve months ago, we – the journalists unable to resist a comeback story – watched him speak over a Zoom presser after the announcement of a contract extension at Trent Bridge. The boyish looks of Mohali had given way to a growing beard and more up top, but one thing hadn’t changed. “That ambition will always be there,” he said when asked about playing for England again. At the time, however, it still felt a long way off. England, believe it or not, had a settled top order: Burns, Sibley, Crawley. Hameed would have to sit tight at Notts, put up some consistent numbers and wait his go. A few years down the line? Sure, that felt realistic.

And then it started to go all wrong. For England that is. Hameed, on the other hand, timed his run to perfection with runs in the County Championship and a ton against India in a warm-up for the tourists. The big time called for him at Lord’s. Just like that, before we’d even had a chance to take it all in and breathe, he was back. A couple of half-centuries in the summer meant the story had to go on in the winter. He was on the plane to Australia for an Ashes tour.

It feels like it’s happened too quickly, that he’s skipped a few too many levels to get to this part of the game. There were warnings early on, too. In August, CricViz analyst Ben Jones took an in-depth look at Hameed before the second coming and wrote: “Indeed, given his vulnerabilities against high pace, a strong summer could easily give way to a (very) difficult winter in Australia.” Starc, Cummins, Richardson and Neser have all racked up wins over Hameed so far.

Still, while he works his way out of the mess and wonders what comes next, Hameed should take a moment to quietly celebrate his own journey. There will come a time when we have to move on from talking about the decline at Lancashire and that season where the batting average didn’t even break double figures. But for now it still feels right to look back at how low he went, and how far he’s come. The talent didn’t wilt away; it just needed patience and new surroundings. He’s under the Ashes pump and that, as strange as it may seem, is still a worthy achievement.