England’s batters seek the right balance before it’s too late

David Malan said it was important players did not go into the shell but some were learning on the run

One aspect that has been highlighted is the ability to leave the ball – something that can often be done on length and not just line in Australia because of the extra bounce – and while Malan acknowledged the success of David Warner, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, who have all shown excellent judgement, he believes the key is finding the right balance.

Conditions may also warrant a slightly difference approach at the MCG although the pitch is likely to be far removed from the turgid strip on offering in 2017-18 with the surfaces having improved significantly since then.

Malan is one of only three of England’s top order who had previous Ashes experience in Australia – Jonny Bairstow would make it four in Melbourne if recalled – and with the lack of preparation ahead of the series he said the less experienced batters were having to learn on the run.

“Everyone is up for the challenge, everyone is really keen to face up to Australia,” Malan said. “We do it in white-ball cricket, we take them on…so hopefully we can get that mindset and not go into our shells and just try to survive, take the game to them.

“We are almost learning in Test matches because we haven’t had that preparation. A lot of the guys haven’t played in Australia so are trying to find ways of facing bowlers they haven’t faced before but also to get used to bounce here. This wicket might be slightly skiddier so we don’t want to go out and leave and get bowled or lbw now, but it is about learning.

“I know there’s a lead-up to dismissals and how bowlers set you up, but a lot of our dismissals were probably soft in the sense that we could have left them. You still have to score, but it’s about making the right choices under pressure, myself included. If you look at the way they have batted, the ones who have done really well, they’ve left really well so it’s a good learning curve for us. Hopefully it’s not too late.”

“We’ve done a lot of talking,” he said. “When you lose they’ll always be reports that people are at each other. There definitely isn’t. One of things we’ve been doing this series is a lot of chat amongst the players and encouraging players to challenge each other on a lot of things. We’ve had good discussions with the coaching staff and without the coaching staff. It’s vitally important that we as players take responsibility.

“Ultimately we are the ones who walk onto the field. We get all the preparation and all the knowledge we need, it’s up to us to put it in place. We haven’t done that well enough. When we have those honest chats as players we feel we learn a lot more. Now it’s about not talking anymore, it’s about putting it into play.”