Jonny Bairstow hits a Test-best 95 for England against South Africa

“You have to perform”. All of these have left me thoroughly disillusioned with Indian cricket and as an ordinary fan, I have over the last few years turned my attention to the real cricket game which is played out so brilliantly between other countries such as Australia and England – aka The Ashes.

The 33-year-old has reached 30 only once in his past 12 Test innings and is somewhat fortunate it was Gary Ballance and not him who was dropped after the second Test.

“I hope it doesn’t get that close in this game but I would love to put a performance in like that”.

“Wood has played a huge amount of cricket over the last six to eight months so we have to be careful with him. But who’s to say that there’s not a hundred round the corner and I go off on a good run?”

Since the start of 2012, Ian Bell is averaging just 34.69.

He has subsequently undergone several tests to try to identify the cause of his disorientation, and sat out the three-day tour match at Derby where his understudy Shaun Marsh made a century.

Having had a sore ankle during the first Test at Cardiff, Starc appeared in better shape during the Lord’s Test and the 25-year-old maintained that he is fully fit for the rest of the series.

“Hopefully there is a bit of pace in this deck (in Edgbaston), but we’ll soon find out”, Starc said.

He added: ” I’m sure we’ll be following suit from what Mitch (Johnson) dished up at the end of Lord’s.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has said the Australians were more vocal in the field at Lord’s, letting England know they were on top, but Cook wasn’t interested in taking that topic any further. Yes, he’s been slightly short of runs but players go through that.

“Those players in the England dressing room have not become bad players all of a sudden, so this is a real test of the management as much as anything to see if they can raise the morale and confidence”.

“He’s got it all”, Woakes told BBC Radio 5 live.

“I have no regrets, I have given everything to the England shirt, to the Warwickshire shirt and I can be very happy with my life”.

Having failed to slide his bat, one of the first lessons taught to any cricketer at any level, how could he?

“In saying that, he comes in with form under his belt and you can only score runs against who you’re playing”. But being promoted to number three will be a good thing for him.

“We have got extra pace on our side and the short stuff will be definitely on the menu again”. “I am not Kevin Pietersen and was not meant to be”: a paraphrase of Prufrock would be the caption for Bell, shaking his head after one of his dismissals when he has played a Pietersen-esque shot that he felt he ought to play, rather than be true to himself. He’s arguably one of England best Test players.

He has known Bairstow since they began to catch the eye at Headingley a decade ago, and is confident he will be ready for his return to the highest level on the back of his brilliant LV= County Championship form this summer.