England have just been a bit soft with the players. They should be tougher. Play cricket, don’t sit on the sidelines.

I worry a bit about some of England’s thinking. To not play the spinner against New Zealand was a real concern. I also go back to the day-night Test in India, when England played four seamers and one spinner on an absolute beach. The think tank is not operating properly. They are not picking the right players for the right conditions.

If the rain had not ruined the Lord’s Test it would have been 2-0 to New Zealand. England were out-batted, out-bowled, out-caught and out-thought.

Ben Stokes, Woakes and Jos Buttler will bring more expertise and quality, but let’s not forget five of the top seven in this series have been in the side for two years.

Somehow England have to become very consistent. I would give the likes of Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope another chance. Pope has got it, he just needs to calm down a bit. He is too frantic. There is no clarity or calmness about his batting. He is a player of great shots but not great innings. You want to be a player who plays tough innings and reads situations, which is why you are batting in the middle order.

It has been a problem for a long time that when England face quality sides such as Australia and India, they generally get bowled out cheaply.

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England win when 250 is par and the ball is zipping around because it takes only one individual to make a score. To win games of cricket on flat wickets you need big scores, which takes a collective effort that has been beyond England. That is the biggest concern. I think they need a counter-puncher at the top of the order. They need someone who will capitalise if Jasprit Bumrah or Pat Cummins is off line.

That might mean Crawley opens. He has a game that is good enough to counter-attack at the top. I like Rory Burns. He has a lot of moving parts but knows what he needs to do to be successful.

I would bring in Dawid Malan at No.3. I want a selfish run-scorer. Give me that all day long. Someone who reads situations and can hang in there. The left-hander is a good option, too. He played well in Australia on the last tour.

Woakes is key, too, at No.8. I know he might struggle with bouncers in Australia, but he has to come back in.

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The five Tests against India should be played on good pitches. England cannot panic and leave some grass on so it is zipping around corners for James Anderson and Stuart Broad because it will not stand them in good stead going forward. They have to learn to win on better wickets. Better pitches give England’s batsmen the opportunity to bat for longer periods and that is what has been missing.

I have said it many times before that England have to look beyond Anderson and Broad. The ball will not hoop around in Australia. You need to be bowling at more than 133 kilometres per hour and if those two are still in the team then I worry England will not have the firepower, so they need to start planning now.

I would pick Broad on his home ground of Trent Bridge, venue for the first Test.