Joe Root will not panic over England’s poor batting at Edgbaston

The Black Caps dislodged India as the world’s number one Test side following their eight-wicket win at Edgbaston, a lofty position that England can only hope to occupy in their present state.

They were second best in the draw at Lord’s and were rounded up in timid fashion in the first hour of day four to suffer their first series setback on home soil since Sri Lanka turned them over 1-0 in 2014.

Weak batting was the obvious cause, with the game effectively settled inside the 27 overs of England’s second innings. By that point the entire top seven had been sent packing by the tourists for a grand total of 76 runs.

England finished on 122 all out and Root said: “It would be the wrong time to start panicking and rip up all the hard work we have done for such a long period of time.

“Historically we done that going into major tournaments and going into major series and it’s made things even worse. Ultimately it’s about getting this group, taking what has happened this week and making them better going forward, making them more resilient.

“It’s been a frustrating and disappointing performance and I don’t think we’ve given a fair account of ourselves. We’ve been outplayed in all three departments and particularly the batting. We have to be honest, front up to that and learn some hard lessons.”