Australia smell blood as familiar England batting frailties leave Joe Root's men on the edge at Lord's

Whole novels will be written about Jofra Archer’s searing spell to Steve Smith, so intense, so all-consuming was that passage of play, like a vacuum sucking everything else that came around it. Which was why, as England found themselves nine for two and hardly four overs in, their batters might have wanted to be drawn in to this vortex, too.

It could have been worse, so much worse. When David Warner dropped Joe Denly on seven not long thereafter, Australia had shelled four catches during the Test in all. And then Nathan Lyon, the nemesis of England’s liberally-sprinkled left-handers, had Rory Burns trapped in front on 24 but failed to review the turned-down appeal. It happened again, with Ben Stokes still on single figures.

Australia, really, should have had England 49 for four. Warner again dropped Stokes at slip, once more with his innings in its infancy. Shoullda, woullda, coullda. They probably still will. England’s batting, in truth, looks frail enough to offer each wicket twice over.

England had started ahead. Marginally, but eight runs ahead, and without the alarming prospect of a fourth innings versus Lyon, their undoing at Edgbaston. That sliver of light quickly receded. Joe Root, a current resident of the “Fab Four” of world cricket and presumed to sit among the likes of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith, will now surely be considering what superpower he is supposed to possess. It is difficult, at present, to answer.

A half-century in the second dig at Edgbaston, ultimately prolonging, not preventing England’s execution, but otherwise, no luck. Speculation around Root’s batting position – his favoured four versus taking-one-for-the-team at three – appears no longer one of negligible difference. Instead, it is the contrast between a plumb middle-order entry and effectively opening the innings. England may have found one dependable opener in Rory Burns, but the Jason Roy experiment still flatters to deceive, as he managed just two to add to his first-innings duck.

Give Roy time and one day it will come off in spectacular fashion, goes the thinking. The winch is winding every tighter and the catapult, when or if it comes, will need to be something extraordinary if Roy is to convert red wine from white. The question now is veering from not if, but when, England might call it quits on the master of short-form, servant to the long. It is tempting to persevere, and this might be the correct path to take, but for a series of such magnitude it is a cruel conundrum for any with England’s best intentions at heart.

Root has not entered the crease once yet when the overs have ticked into double figures. The lot he was given here to fall first ball to Pat Cummins might be put down to fate, not fault, but it continues a difficult period for one of Yorkshire’s finest. His captaincy, tentative and searching, has already been called into question. It cannot be easy, but when a sailor has been at sea too long, his grizzled face paints the picture of a man two decades older. The once cherubic veneer of Root is starting to show the strain.

There has been a whisper, maybe one of fantastical fairy-telling instead of anything more substantial, that defeat at Lord’s on Sunday might herald something drastic, something almost unknown before. Almost unknown, but not totally without precedent, that is. Reel in Eoin Morgan, goes the rumour, captain fantastic and commander of men, for a stint at the helm and relieve Root to do his thing with bat alone. From Mike Brearley to Morgan, and Ian Botham to Root, perhaps it would serve us well if history might be repeated on occasion. Ed Smith, England’s chief selector, is known for a left-field take or two. What have England to lose?

Because England, realistically, have so much to do and so little time in which to do it. Surviving Josh Hazlewood and Cummins up front requires both luck and great skill. England are running low on both. And then, like a silent assassin you had thought had long-since drifted into content retirement, Peter Siddle has sprung from the shadows left by the vapour trails of his quicker compatriots.

Geoffrey Boycott on commentary has little time for Siddle, slow Siddle. England’s batters appear to share a similar view, only these have manifest in a different way, their time at the crease against Siddle proving so brief on Saturday. Here is Australia’s partnership breaker, the one who pounces when the guard is down, claiming first Burns, on 29, and then Denly, on 26. Just as they got going they slipped to Siddle, slow Siddle. Stokes and Jos Buttler, with 25 at stumps between them, have mustered some resistance. But the defences have been breached and Australia can sense it.