NASSER HUSSAIN: Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley failed to copy classy Devon Conway

Comparisons aren’t always helpful, but the difference between the approach of Devon Conway and England’s top order hit you between the eyes on the second day of this opening Test match.

I wrote on Thurdsay about how much I’d enjoyed Conway’s old-fashioned approach to opening the batting, and nothing that happened here — as he moved from his overnight 136 to a double-century on Test debut — changed my view.

He left the ball well, let it come to him, and played it under his eyes. It was an orthodox innings, and a chanceless one. He’s clearly a bloke who knows how to bat time and bat long. England’s top three, it’s fair to say, do things a bit differently.

England opener Dom Sibley was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson attempting a high risk shot

Now, I’m not in the business of writing off players after one bad innings, and both Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have done plenty of good things in the early parts of their Test careers. Sibley has made tough hundreds at Cape Town and Old Trafford, as well as a mountain of runs for Warwickshire. Crawley hit 267 last summer against Pakistan.

But in neither case during the mini session before tea was their dismissal the result of the kind of percentage cricket played for more than nine and a half hours by Conway. Sibley tried to hit a ball from Kyle Jamieson that was going down the slope and nipping away from him through midwicket, which was a high-risk shot.

Crawley, meanwhile, was set up beautifully by Tim Southee, who went close to the stumps to bowl a full-length delivery, followed by one back of a length. He then leapt wider of the crease, at which point a batsman really ought to be guarding against the sucker-punch. The ball was full, wide, and swung away — and Crawley was drawn into the drive, with terminal consequences.

England were wobbling at 18-2 after Zak Crawley was set up beautifully by Tim Southee

One of the great features of Conway’s innings was that he more or less ignored everything outside his eyeline, and kept his head right behind the ball, playing it back to where it had come from. But Sibley is from the Gary Palmer school of batting — the coach who has worked with Alastair Cook and emphasises alignment, with your front leg out of the way. When Sibley sees a straight ball, he wants to work it through midwicket. The method has clearly brought him a lot of runs. But the contrast with Conway was stark.

As for Crawley, I like the fact that he’s an attacking No 3. England probably need him to bat that way, because you can’t have him blocking after two steady openers in Sibley and Rory Burns, who looked in good touch, especially when taking on Neil Wagner’s bouncers.

But Crawley has nicked off a few times early in his innings for Kent this summer, and life isn’t going to get any easier when India arrive with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

These guys all have credit in the bank, despite what happened in India earlier this year. But they also know that the only currency that counts is runs. The recall of Haseeb Hameed and the emergence of James Bracey — even though he’s playing here as a wicketkeeper at No 7 — are reminders that no places can be taken for granted.

There was a huge difference between the approach of Devon Conway and England’s top order

The other factor in this equation is the role of the captain. One of the reasons Joe Root prefers to go in at four rather than three is because of the extra time it allows him to gather his thoughts if England have been in the field.

I thought he had a good morning as a leader, especially after having to deal with the off-field stuff surrounding Ollie Robinson’s tweets. So to find himself out in the middle at 18 for two in the seventh over was not part of the plan.

England need to protect their best batsman, and they know that the return of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will strengthen their middle order. Right now, though, the top order needs to show a bit more nous. And they could do with reflecting on how Conway batted. The remaining three innings in this series are already looming large.