Ashes 2015: Unlike the county game, there is no place to hide poor technique in the Test arena

When the Edgbaston groundsman took the covering off the Test match pitch a few days ago to allow me to have a look, it struck me that there was a very even covering of grass and a solid feel to the surface.

It is extremely difficult to predict pitches on the day of a game, let alone a week out, but early indications are that this wicket may have a bit more pace in it than the last two. The county pitches at Warwickshire this year have carried through well and not turned a great deal.

Maybe, then, this will be one with a bit more life for the bowlers. If that’s the case then conditions will certainly test England’s rejigged top order.

In the past some might have referred to Ian Bell’s batting as being mentally fragile, but when you set out in the international game insecurities are commonplace. Not so any more after a stellar career but he will now have to call on all his vast experience and the knowledge of a ground he is very familiar with to bounce back to form.

Adam Lyth’s position at the top of the order is under scrutiny from some sections of the media. He was unconvincing in the last match, but we should not forget Lyth scored a maiden Test hundred just three games ago against a very good New Zealand bowling line-up.

When you first enter the Test arena you do so as a successful first-class performer hoping to cut it at the highest level.

Andrew Strauss and Michael Atherton are examples of those who had instant success, but for two other very fine opening batsmen in Graham Gooch and Marcus Trescothick it probably took more than 10 Tests to feel comfortable at that level. Oppositions and eras may have had an impact, but judging players over a handful of games is unwise.

Lyth is unlikely to have faced in county cricket a ball similar to the one that dismissed him in the second innings of the last Test.

Opening the batting in Test cricket examines your technique, method, attitude and bravery. There are more good balls at a greater speed and fewer bad balls that help you score and tick over your runs.

Batsmen’s attitudes to this will vary but generally if the scoreboard keeps moving it helps with your well-being at the crease and you are less likely to make errors. The better the bowling, the harder that gets.

It’s not a feeling you have often in county cricket and players must be given an opportunity to overcome these mental battles.

A lot of young players get picked for the national side, have a few games, then get dropped and go back to county cricket to work at areas of deficiency that are exposed at Test level.

As a player you have to be honest with yourself and work at weak areas of your game in practice, as some of these weaknesses will not be exposed at first-class level.

I write from experience as I knew the inadequacies of my technique were holding me back in Test cricket at the top of the order, though they were not so exposed when I dropped down the order. With the standard of bowling being a bit lower, I would still score runs in first-class cricket as it was possible to work with a deficient technique – in other words, work around problems and still have success.

Any attempts at tinkering with your method were not tested regularly enough at that level. You only really found out when promoted back to Test cricket. Based on that assumption it will, of course, be very interesting to watch Jonny Bairstow on his return to the England side after he has scored so many county runs.

Another difficulty in this case both for Lyth and Gary Ballance is that they are not playing and are unlikely to play one-day international cricket.

The advantage to that is more a mental one in that you can score runs in a less testing technical arena against the same bowlers, which will help with confidence and self-belief and possibly inflict some mental scars on the bowlers, which could help you if you win back a place in the Test side.

Runs in the one-day arena will always attract the eye of the selectors.

When England won the first game of the Ashes series in Cardiff there was no talk then of pitches and the standard of first-class cricket in this country. Both will vary from time to time and era to era. This is an area for the administrators.

A player’s job is to be honest and identify what needs to improve and do whatever possible to improve it, regardless of the staple diet of cricket you play. You are the only one who can make it better – then rely on the selectors to back their initial judgement.