England get reality check after Headingley high

The standout display from Ben Stokes during England’s epic third Test win at Headingley papered over the cracks of a performance that will demand changes when the teams reconvene for Ashes combat at Old Trafford next week.

Australia are still probably coming to terms of just how they let the Leeds Test slip through their fingers after bowling out Joe Root’s side for 67 on day two.

The brilliance of Stokes kept the Ashes alive, but England cannot expect the allrounder to bail them out against arguably the best seam attack in the world.

Changes will be made and rightly so.

Stuart Broad captured the mood perfectly straight after the close of play on Sunday, the experienced bowler refusing to pull his punches amid the euphoria.

"We need to improve a lot,” said Broad. "I think we have been relatively average in this Test match. Obviously Stokes' heroics have dragged a result out of it.

"But on day one we should have bowled Australia out for 120 if we’re brutally honest.

"Getting bowled out for 67 is inexcusable. We didn’t show any adaptability, we didn’t try to get the momentum back in our favour, we didn’t communicate very well. It was just a really poor 27 overs.

"We then could have bowled Australia out for 150 again in the second innings but we didn’t. It’s been a sloppy game for us, but one bloke’s heroics has kept us in the Ashes series and now every other player needs to step up."

Among the changes is likely to be a rejigging of the batting order. Jason Roy’s brilliance as a one-day opener has clearly not transferred to Test cricket, the 29-year-old averaging 16.75 after four Tests and with a top score of 28 in this Ashes series.

One option for England – and the most likely – is to move Joe Denly, who is hardly having a great series himself, from No.4 to opener and move Roy into the middle order.

Roy bats at No.5 in county cricket for Surrey and should probably be given a chance in that position for England. That might see Stokes moved up to No.4 and Roy slotting in at No.5.

England could even drop Roy completely and call up Dominic Sibley, the outstanding opener in county cricket this summer.

But there seems little doubt he cannot remain at the top of the order, with even Alec Stewart, the former England captain who is director of cricket at Roy’s county Surrey, even admitting that fact.

Speaking on Sky Sports in the UK, Stewart argued: "I think we all agree that Jason shouldn’t open. We all said, 'look he’s had a great World Cup therefore can we get him in the Test match set-up'.

"We said he’d make mistakes so if he opens, let’s not go too hard on him if he plays attacking, rash shots because we know that’d going to happen.

"But once Joe Root said he would go to (number) three, my take was Denly would go up top and Jason Roy would come in at four or five. That to me was the sensible way of doing it but they didn’t.

"So now are they going to flip Denly and Roy? Then you look at Denly. He got stuck in but he’s also being tested now up top – shoulder to head – and he hasn’t played that particularly well. So if you suddenly say Roy’s not going to play, do you put Denly up and Jason pops down or do you keep Denly where he is, leave Jason out and bring in a Dominic Sibley or a Zak Crawley?

"Dominic Sibley has earned the right through weight of runs in county cricket, but again you’re going into the unknown because these boys don’t see enough short, fast bowling in county cricket."

Asked if it would be fair to move Roy down to the middle order, Stewart said: "That would be fair because then he actually is batting where we all think he should bat".

Regardless of what happens at the top of the order, it appears likely England will make two other changes to their team for the Manchester Test.

Jos Buttler, averaging 9.16 in this Ashes series, looks ready for a rest after a year playing across all formats and a starring role in his country’s World Cup win last month.

In his place at No.7 could come Ollie Pope, the 21-year-old Surrey batsman who played two Tests out of position at No.4 against India last summer and who is tearing up county cricket this English season.

Pope, who scored a double century for Surrey last week, was called up as concussion cover for Roy last week at Headingley and is obviously the next batsman in line to come into the team.

His natural talent is undeniable, with Pope averaging 59.58 across his two seasons in first-class cricket.

The other change England will make is bringing back their record wicket-taker in Jimmy Anderson for Chris Woakes.

Anderson broke down with a calf injury four overs into the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston but with the 37-year-old playing a second XI match for Lancashire this week, it is expected he will return for the fourth Test at his home ground.

Woakes, another player who looks exhausted from the World Cup, needs a rest and England need to fit Anderson back into the team now that Jofra Archer has embedded himself with two stellar performances in his first two Tests.

England’s tail may be slightly long without Woakes, with Archer at No.8, Broad at No.9, Anderson at No.10 and Jack Leach at No.11.

But there is little other option for England, who regardless of the personnel, will fancy their chances of regaining the Ashes over the next two Tests.

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Chris Woakes.

First Test: Australia beat England by 251 runs at Edgbaston

Second Test: Match drawn at Lord's

Third Test: England defeat Australia by one wicket at Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval