The Ashes: Futures of Lyth and Ballance likely to be high on agenda for selectors

England are reeling after a calamitous 405-run defeat to Australia at Lord’s in a one-sided second Test, with Lyth, Ballance and Ian Bell all under the microscope in particular after poor performances in the drubbing.

England’s sorry capitulation in their second innings on Sunday when they were bowled out for a paltry 103 after just 37 overs has drawn stinging criticism in the press, with many particularly scathing at the repeated collective failures of the top-order with Lyth and Ballance looking particularly vulnerable, with Australia having targeted weaknesses in the left-handed pair’s battling.

Ballance has scored just one half-century in his last 13 first-class innings, with his technique under considerable scrutiny, while Lyth has scored just fifty runs in four Ashes innings, reaching double figures just once.

On the situation, Bayliss said: “(Changes are) on the mind of anyone when the team is not playing like you would like, those things are always in the back of the coach’s and selectors’ minds.

“But what you’ve also got to do is give the players that are in there as much confidence as possible as well.

“They are obviously good players and the reason they are in the team is because they are thought of as the best players in England at the moment.

“There are some good players on the outside and we’ve got a selection meeting, I’m not going to speculate on what exactly will happen until Tuesday.”