Ashes 2015: Matt Prior - England must forget about Lord's debacle and come out firing

EXCLUSIVE COLUMN: Five things to look out for in the Third Test

Ian Bell on his way to a half-century for Warwickshire. His move up to No 3 for England gives him responsibility on his home ground (Getty Images)

The first hour could dictate rest of Ashes

England’s capitulation on Sunday afternoon has been the main topic of discussion this week but to be honest they were behind the eight ball from the off.

That morning session at Lord’s on the opening day, when Australia dominated with the bat before going on to declare just after tea on the second day, really set the tone for the rest of the Test match. It’s really important when you’re in the field for that length of time that you start your innings well and do all you can not to lose any wickets for the first hour.

If that had happened, then it’s quite possible the Aussies’ heads would have dropped and they would have been saying, “My God, this is a flat pitch, how are we going to get these guys out?”

As it was, England started so poorly that Australia left Lord’s that Friday on a massive high. England need to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen at Edgbaston and that first hour of play is going to be absolutely massive, whether we’re batting or in the field.

Win that hour and the series is back on, lose it and we could be in a huge amount of trouble.

Three and easy for Bell’s promotion

Ian Bell, Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth were the three men most under scrutiny after Lord’s, but I like the changes England have made. Most importantly, I’m really happy Bell has gone up the order to No 3. That position is a tough one, a really hard place to bat, but in an Ashes series you need your senior players to stick their hand up and take responsibility, and now Belly has the perfect opportunity to do that.

He needs to step up and grab the bull by the horns. His form is a worry, of course it is, but he’s a top player and Edgbaston is his home ground. He’s a class act and will come good again. If he needs any inspiration he only needs to look at Michael Clarke. Time and again the Australian captain’s form has come under scrutiny but he has always bounced back. Belly can do the same – just when England need him most.

Bairstow brings balance to order

International cricket is an incredibly unforgiving arena. Gary Ballance looked in a place where he was really struggling. He just didn’t seem comfortable and looked like a young man bereft of belief.

Sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is to go out of the team, go back to county cricket and get some runs under your belt. He has had a fantastic start to his Test career and I don’t doubt that he’ll come back.

As for Jonny Bairstow, he has done exactly what Ballance needs to do now. He has scored runs by the truckload for his county, Yorkshire, and hasn’t so much knocked on the door as absolutely smashed it down.

Maybe in the past he has been burdened by people telling him to play this way or that way. He just needs to keep doing what he has been doing in county cricket, because it’s clearly working.

With him at five, Ben Stokes at six, Jos Buttler at seven and Moeen Ali at eight, England now have perhaps the most exciting middle-order in world cricket. It’s a thrilling line-up.

Talk is cheap, now we have to move on

Maybe in 2013-14 Down Under we talked too much. We talked about how we were going to turn the series around, about how we were going to cope with their bowlers and how we were going to get their best players out.

Sometimes you need to just go out there and play. England need to put Lord’s to the back of their minds, it’s gone and nothing is going to change what happened. They could have lost by five runs or a million. To be honest, it really wouldn’t have made any difference – it’s over and it’s time to move on.

When they get together at Edgbaston, all the talk should be about what’s going to happen this week, rather than what has already happened. The introduction of a new player around the camp should also invigorate things too.

And Mitchell Johnson? Listen, he’s a class bowler and England probably have to get their heads around the fact that he’s going to bowl destructive spells in this series. That doesn’t mean he has a psychological hold over any of these players.

These guys are young and hugely talented, they certainly shouldn’t be getting hung-up on one bowler.

It’s time for Bayliss to earn his corn

He looked like a genius at Cardiff but now Trevor Bayliss has to rise to his first challenge as England coach. He seems like the sort of guy who likes his teams to be positive and it’s up to him to turn the team around again.

The captain has a role to play but the coach has an even bigger job to get the boys up for it. The most important thing he can do is tell England to stick to their guns and play aggressive cricket.

Now, more than ever, they need to come out firing.

Matt Prior won three Ashes series with England during a career which spanned 79 Tests between 2007-14