TEN BURNING ASHES ISSUES: Time to drop Moeen Ali? And Do England need to re-think Bazball?

An epic first Test ended with Australia just about getting over the line to take a 1-0 lead in the Ashes. 

Pat Cummings and Nathan Lyon steered the tourists to victory with the bat, scoring an unbeaten partnership of 55 to help the Aussies surpass the 281 run target set by Ben Stokes’ side. 

It looked as though they could have fallen short of their target though, when the England captain took Usman Khawaja’s wicket, before Alex Carey was caught and bowled by Joe Root. 

But it was Cummins who would guide his side to the win, knocking Root for two sixes before going on to score a vital 44 not out. So, do England need to re-think Bazball? Should they make changes for Lord’s? 

Mail Sport’s experts — former England captain Nasser Hussain, former England coach David Lloyd, Cricket Correspondent Paul Newman and Wisden editor Lawrence Booth — tackle the 10 key questions…

England will have several burning issues to resolve ahead of the second Ashes test at Lord’s

Pat Cummins guided Australia to victory on Tuesday at Edgbaston in what was a thrilling opening test

He (first from right) and Nathan Lyon (second from right) put together a partnership of 55 to surpass the 281 tally set by England 

1. England gave it their all and still lost. Please tell us it won’t be 5-0…

Nasser Hussain: I’d be surprised! England were ahead of the game for most of the first Test and played some excellent cricket. People will talk about the declaration but it was mistakes that cost them. And they weren’t quite as ruthless as they could have been.

David Lloyd: I agree, Nass. I wouldn’t expect a 5-0. They are evenly matched sides. Of course, there are issues for England. They need some pace because Australia were 6mph quicker but that will be addressed at Lord’s. And, remember, Australia bowled four no-balls at Edgbaston and England bowled 24!

Paul Newman: 5-0, steady on! England made the running, provided most of the entertainment and scored 666 runs in 144.2 overs as opposed to Australia’s 668 in 208.4! It’s too early to write England off. They just made too many mistakes.

Lawrence Booth: Yeah, Australia were clinging on for most of the Test. When you’re 227 for eight chasing 281, you lose nine times out of 10. Hats off to Cummins and Lyon but the adventurous cricket came from England. Had both teams taken Australia’s approach with the bat, we’d have seen a dull draw.

2. That first day declaration, Was it pivotal or immaterial?

Lloyd: Absolutely pivotal. The best player in the world, Root, was in and England could have scored an extra 40 or 50 runs. It came back to bite them in the end. I stood outside after play that day and it was uncanny — the older spectators couldn’t understand the declaration but the young ones were all for it!

Booth: Sorry Bumble, but way too much happened between the declaration and Tuesday night’s finish to argue it was anything other than another piece of attacking cricket from Stokes that, on this occasion, didn’t quite come off. Australia only stayed in the game because England were sloppy in the field on the second day.

Hussain: Yeah, it’s a bit of a red herring for me. England didn’t lose because of the declaration. Cricketing mistakes cost them. The declaration was typical of the style and brand of cricket they have played for the last year and it has won them plenty of Tests.

Newman: A hundred per cent. It’s the reddest of herrings. Just look at the crowd when it happened. They were celebrating as if Aston Villa had just won the European Cup again. Nobody left early. It was theatre, ultra-aggressive. If England had taken two wickets that night Edgbaston would have exploded — as it was Stuart Broad took them the following morning.

Ben Stokes’ side gave it their all during the test match but our experts do not think the series will be a white wash 

Much debate shrouds England’s decision to declare on the first day with Joe Root still in

Questions are mounting over Jonny Bairstow’s (pictured) place in the team with Ben Foakes a viable option to replace him

3. Jonny Bairstow cost England 200 runs, so do they give Foakes the gloves now?

Booth: Who are you going to drop? Not Ben Duckett after the winter he had. Not Zak Crawley after starting the series with 61. The most left-field choice would be to omit Moeen Ali, recall Foakes at No 8 and ask Root to bowl the off-breaks. But England will stick with Bairstow unless he gets injured because they believe he can turn matches at No 7 and his keeping will improve.

Newman: We seem to forget Jonny has been out with a terrible injury since the end of last summer. He’s not going to be at his best immediately. I’ve already said I would have had Bairstow and Foakes in the side. I stick by that. But Jonny must stay and will get better.

Hussain: Jonny had a poor game with the gloves but did take a great catch to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings. He has to keep on playing because of the way he bats. So who are you going to get Foakes in for? Open with someone who doesn’t want to do it or has never done it before?

Lloyd: Absolutely! Stick with what we’ve got. A couple went down but Jonny is a very competent wicketkeeper, so I’m not too worried about that. I don’t see any reason to change.

4. We love Mo But England can’t start a Test with a player who may pull up…

Newman: It was a gamble that didn’t pay off, sadly, but Mo was absolutely the best option because of the dearth of spinners in English cricket. I can’t see him being fit enough for Lord’s even though Brendon McCullum backed him on Tuesday. Word is Will Jacks might come in, but surely England will go all seam with Root providing the spin.

Lloyd: Yes, I had no problem with Mo playing either but he’s got a bad injury now and I can’t see him playing at Lord’s. Australia were always going to go after him, like England will go after Nathan Lyon. Jacks will be very much in the frame and the likely lad is Rehan Ahmed. I’ll just throw another one into the mix — Tom Hartley of Lancashire. England like him.

Hussain: Yes, Mo’s finger injury was hugely costly, particularly with all those left-handers in the Australia side on a turning pitch. He battled hard and bowled pretty well but England cannot go in again with their fingers crossed he will be OK. I haven’t seen the pitch but at Lord’s I’d probably go four seamers and Root’s spin.

Booth: Picking Mo was a risk in keeping with England’s approach and it almost paid off. He removed Travis Head twice and should have had Cameron Green stumped on nought, in which case England would probably have won. If his finger is OK England may stick with him.

Foakes (right) has been playing for Surrey last week, mounting a 501 run chase with Dom Sibley to beat Kent 

Moeen Ali’s place in the side is also under scrutiny after he suffered a nasty finger injury 

Jimmy Anderson returned a score of 109-1 across both of Australia’s innings in what was not his best outing in an England shirt

5. Right, Jimmy, go and bowl in county cricket if you’re short of overs, Wood comes in at lord’s. Agreed?

Hussain: Nonsense! Where have you been for the last 20 years? It was the deadest pudding of a pitch and questioning Jimmy just shows how well Broad bowled to get something out of it. If anything, Anderson being a bit under-cooked in the first Test means he will get better as the series progresses.

Booth: Yeah, and the hope is he’s got his bad Test out of his system. Depending on the surface at Lord’s, where Wood averages nearly 40 with the ball, I’d stick with Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson — assuming they’re all fit — and save Wood for the harder tracks of Old Trafford and the Oval.

Anderson (left) and Joe Root (right) celebrate after dismissing Alex Carey on Tuesday

Newman: Maybe Jimmy was feeling that groin injury and didn’t want a repeat of 2019 when he limped out of the Ashes after four overs. But what was he meant to do on that pitch? Groundsman Gary Barwell is the most sensitive man in cricket, so he won’t like this, but it was a miracle we had such a classic Test on that surface — and that was totally down to England’s enterprise.

Lloyd: I do think Jimmy might miss Lord’s but for tactical reasons. England will want the extra pace of Wood and Jimmy will be needed at Headingley. My only criticism is that the pitch at Edgbaston negated England’s seam strength. Stokes asked for quick, flat pitches — well, he got the slowest thing you could imagine.

6 Time to tell Root: ramp away, mate, but stop dancing down the pitch to Lyon?

Lloyd: I wouldn’t tell him to stop ramping or dancing down the track — just make sure you don’t miss it, Joe! That second-innings dismissal was the first time he’s been stumped in red-ball cricket but the best player in the world made a call and, put simply, he just got it wrong.

Hussain: Ramp once you’re in, Joe, if you want to entertain. He’s doing absolutely fine as he is. He’s the best player of spin England have ever had, you could argue, so dance down the pitch as much as you want, mate. You’re a bloody good player of spin.

Booth: It is tricky to work out whether the fact he’d never been stumped before in a Test meant he hadn’t played that shot often, or he had done and he’d played it well. The dismissal sums up the problem some have with Bazball; they want England to attack adventurously but in a risk-free manner. Good luck with that!

Newman: I’ve adhered to the school of thought that Root should stick to his game and leave the funkiness to others, but that start to day four was the stuff of legend. Keep doing it, Joe, but don’t come down like that to Lyon. Root is a brilliant sweeper and reverse sweeper of spin and should play to his strengths.

Ben Duckett scored 12 runs in his first innings and 19 in his second, starting as the second order batsman for England

7. Duckett can’t keep playing at every ball, tell him to be more judicious?

Lloyd: No! Just carry on playing the same way, Ben. Duckett has had a terrific resurrection as a Test player but he wasn’t in long enough at Edgbaston for us to make a judgment on this. It’s one quiet game and he certainly gets another go to do it his way.

Hussain: I do think he has to be a bit careful outside that off-stump, actually. Opening was the best time to bat on that pitch because the new Dukes ball wasn’t doing much. That’s why Stokes was wary of taking it near the end of the Test. But if it does move at Lord’s he will have to be a little more careful what he does and doesn’t play at as an opener.

Newman: We did highlight that issue Duckett has outside off-stump before the series and it can only become a bigger problem on harder, faster pitches. His record was so good last winter that he deserves an extended run now but this could be the series that finds him out.

Booth: My only issue with Duckett’s second-innings dismissal was that the ball was suddenly doing all sorts in the gloom, so if there was any time to ‘absorb pressure’ (one of Bazball’s mantras) this was it. Again, though, let’s not compromise a strength.

8. Pope may be vice-captain but he needs a score, right?

Lloyd: If you’re a batter, you always need a score. That’s a given. So he will hope for a big improvement at Lord’s. If one and three are not getting many runs, it does put a massive onus on the middle order. He will know that better than anyone.

Hussain: I thought we were all delighted how well he was going at No 3! He got a double hundred two Tests ago against Ireland! That’s short-term thinking, I’m afraid.

Booth: He did score that double hundred but Australia will be all over him at Lord’s. The Edgbaston stump mic picked up references from short-leg fielder Marnus Labuschagne to Adelaide 2021 when Lyon had Pope in a tangle. The first Test was odd: Pope fell to a nothing ball in the first innings and a beauty in the second. He can come good.

Newman: Alec Stewart said before the series that Pope would be best advised leaving Bazball to others and bat more like Root at his best. I agree. He is far too frenetic but it’s interesting that his bad second-innings record is being put down to the trouble he has sleeping during Tests. And Nass, even I might have scored runs against Ireland and I’m 57 — Ollie needs a score.

Ollie Pope also failed to star with the bat, hitting 45 runs across both innings for England 

Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon (second from left) took eight wickets across two innings and was clinical for Australia

9. Bumble said Lyon would be the top series wicket-taker. He’s spot-on, isn’t he?

Lloyd: I’ve not budged from that view now, that’s for sure. I’ve been around a long time and I know how it works. Just a shame I didn’t have a bet on it. I should have done. A mate of mine has had a little tickle, so it’s looking good for him.

Hussain: If they carry on playing on pitches like Edgbaston, it’s looking great for your mate, Bumble! England might have to rethink the surfaces they want to play on but they are wary of Australia’s seam attack. I was pleased for Lyon. He bowled brilliantly and gave a humble interview to me on Sky. After Headingley 2019, when he fumbled that ball at the end, it was redemption to be there at the end on Tuesday.

Newman: I’m not sure I could handle Lyon being leading wicket-taker but Bumble, you are clearly on to something. What I didn’t expect was the way he batted with Cummins. Ice cool.

Booth: Yes, there’s every chance Bumble will be right because Lyon — and possibly Cummins — are the only bowlers likely to play all five Tests. Also, Lyon is an exceptional off-spinner who is closing in on 500 Test wickets and kept checking England’s progress at Edgbaston because he has nous and guts. Witness his batting.

Brendon McCullum will have to re-think some of the side’s strategies ahead of next week’s test at Lord’s

10. So, after that first test thriller, has your prediction changed?

Hussain: I said 3-2 but I wasn’t sure which way it would go and I’m still not sure. I’ll still go 3-2 England but they can’t be sloppy and make more mistakes.

Lloyd: Nothing has changed. I’m still saying 3-1 Australia.

Newman: Do you remember the last time a side went 1-0 down in the Ashes and won? It was 2005, of course. This series has so many similarities with that fabled one so why shouldn’t the same thing happen? I’m sticking with England to win 3-2.

Booth: I said 3-2 to England but that required them to win at Edgbaston. It’s hard to see them winning three of the last four, which is probably what they’ll need to regain the Ashes, so I’m switching to 3-2 Australia.