While Fleming conceded that all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, as well as wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, would cause problems for Australia he was scathing in his assessment of Keaton Jennings, Tom Westley and Dawid Malan.

“England needs three decent batsman in their top six,” Fleming, who played 20 tests and 88 one-dayers when Australia were in their pomp in the 1990s, told Melbourne’s RSN radio.

“Watching the South African series, they’re some of the worst batsmen I’ve ever seen play test cricket.”

England beat South Africa 3-1 in the just-completed series but Fleming said the retention for the Ashes of opener Jennings and top order batsman Westley would offer plenty of opportunities for the Australian bowlers.

“(Jennings) scored 127 runs at an average of 15. I used to bat nine in test matches and I would just be happy with that, averaging 15. Just be happy. He’s opening the batting,” Fleming added. “I don’t like his technique, closed grip, he’s going to nick people that can angle the ball across him and bowlers that can actually get the ball to shape back in, that gap between bat and front pad. This is an opening batsman.

“Westley has a similar technique. He is squared up, he has hands that are a long way in front of his body with a closed grip. How does he hit the ball through the off side? He’s going to nick off or get in trouble with the ball that comes in.

“Where are 80 percent of the deliveries going to be to Jennings and Westley? Outside off stump, maybe shaping away. They don’t have a technique to cope with that.” Westley and Malan made their test debuts in the third test against the Proteas, with the former taking over at “first drop” from the injured Gary Ballance, who did not escape Fleming’s brutal analysis.

“How did Gary Ballance play test cricket again after that last series two years ago there?” Fleming said, referring to the batsman’s axing after two tests of the 2015 Ashes.

“Young Malan, 35 runs at an average of eight. There’s real opportunities for Australia to run through the top order.”

Chasing an unlikely 405 for victory, England were bowled out 20 minutes after lunch for 158 as India grabbed a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, after the first Test was drawn.

Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front to bring up the team’s second biggest win against England by runs, after they won by 279 runs at Leeds 30 years ago.

Kohli’s sparkling 167 and his 226-run third-wicket stand with Cheteshwar Pujara (119) in the first innings was instrumental in the hosts posting 455 after batting first.

The star batsman also hit a gritty 81 in the second innings to underline India’s dominance over the visitors.

“We’ve been playing some really good cricket, we don’t want to be complacent but don’t want to be desperate, either. We respect England,” said Kohli, who was named man of the match.

Ashwin, the leading Test wicket-taker this year, once again turned on the heat against the English batsmen who resumed their chase at 87 for two but lost their last eight wickets for just 71 runs.

The off-spinner, who picked up his 22nd five-wicket haul in the first innings, captured the first scalp of the day by having Ben Duckett caught behind for nought, ending the batsman’s brief, 16-ball stay at the crease.

Ashwin and debutant Jayant Yadav finished with three wickets each in England’s second innings, while fast bowler Mohammed Shami chipped in with two.

“The biggest positives are how the fast bowlers bowled and Jayant’s debut. It was lovely to have five bowlers who can pick up wickets,” said Kohli.

The morning session saw England lose Moeen Ali who looped up a simple catch to fine leg off leg-spinner Ravindra Jadeja for just two runs.

Off-spinner Yadav got the important wicket of Ben Stokes, top-scorer with 70 in England’s first innings, for six.

Joe Root, who was dropped on nine by Kohli at leg slip off Ashwin, provided some resistance until fast bowler Mohammed Shami had him lbw for 25.

Root reviewed the decision but TV replays suggested the ball would have hit the leg stump, upholding the on-field call.

The hosts had reclaimed the advantage on the fourth day after Jadeja trapped England skipper Alastair Cook lbw for 54 on what turned out to be the last ball of the day.

“It was a good toss to win (for India), no doubt. From losing those five wickets on day two – you have to score first-innings runs,” said Cook.

After conceding a 200-run deficit in the first innings, England will take heart from their spirited bowling second time around.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad, who played with a strained tendon on his right foot from day two, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid fought valiantly by claiming four wickets each to dismiss India for 204.

“We made India work very hard. We played some good cricket at stages in these first two games. We need to win a couple of games to get ourselves back in the series,” said Cook.

Top-ranked India finished the day on a strong 319-4 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground in Rajkot, supported by the duo’s performance.

Pujara made 124 off 206 balls before being dismissed by first-innings centurion Ben Stokes, but owes his ninth Test century and third against England to the Decision Review System.

The right-handed batsman was ruled lbw on 86 but the TV umpire — which long-time sceptics India are using for the first time in a home series — overturned the decision after the ball-tracker showed Zafar Ansari’s delivery going over the top of the stumps.

Vijay hit 126 during a marathon eight-hour innings and shared 209 runs for the second wicket with Pujara.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was batting on 26 at stumps while nightwatchman Amit Mishra was dismissed for a duck off the last ball of the day. The hosts trailed by 218 runs with six wickets in hand in reply to England’s 537, their third biggest total on Indian soil thanks to centuries from Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Stokes.

After being stuck on 99 for 10 balls, Pujara reached the three-figure mark with a nervous single as his father and wife applauded from the stands.

No international side has toured Bangladesh since 20 people were killed in a siege at a cafe in Dhaka in July.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said in August that tour would go ahead following a security review.

Jos Buttler will captain the one-day side, with the squads for the one-day and Test series to be named on Friday.

The tour features three one-day internationals followed by two Test matches.

England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said: “While we understand and respect Eoin and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour.”

He added that no further withdrawals are expected following “open and honest” discussions with all the players. England players Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan and Liam Dawson have all publicly said they will tour Bangladesh.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has described Morgan’s decision as a “huge mistake” while Nasser Hussain, another ex-skipper of the national side, said Morgan “should be with his team”.

But team-mate Ben Stokes tweeted his support for both players. England fly out on 29 September, with the one-day series starting on 7 October and the Test series on 20 October. They follow that with a tour of India, which begins on 9 November and features five Tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20s. Morgan, 29, said this week that he would never go on a tour where security concerns may affect his game.

“In 2010, we played an Indian Premier League game in Bangalore and a bomb went off in the ground,” he said. “We left and went straight to the airport.

“Another one was playing domestic cricket in Bangladesh during political elections and things were incredibly violent. Given that no-one has toured there since the terrorist attack adds a bigger decision to it.”

Bowlers Andrew Caddick and Robert Croft pulled out of England’s 2001 tour of India because of safety concerns following the 9/11 attacks in New York.

“I was adamant I didn’t want to go and stuck to what I thought was right,” Caddick told BBC Radio 5 before Morgan and Hales made their announcement on Sunday.

“It’s slightly different now. The security they implement in world cricket is quite high, whereas back in 2001 it wasn’t.

“Eoin Morgan has experienced risks to security in the past. Nobody else in the England team has. It’s a personal decision and it should stay that way.”

Former spinner Graeme Swann, who was part of the England squad that returned to India after the Mumbai bombings in 2008, said he would not travel to Bangladesh if he was still playing. “We are a target,” he said. “If I was in that situation, I wouldn’t go.”

Ex-England skipper Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live that Morgan should go on the tour. “I don’t think the captain had any other option but to get on the plane and lead a young side. I do think it is a huge mistake that he has made,” he said.

“This young side will all be nervous because of everything around the side. There will be guards everywhere, they’ll have guns in their faces with security outside their rooms. The young England side won’t like what they see.

“He’ll continue in the side as captain for India – my question would be: ‘Are you safe going there?’ There is a similar Foreign Office warning.

“There will be a bit of banter created and he’ll have to take some stick when he’s back in the side, that’s the nature of being in a sports team. It’s one that I think he will live to regret.”

It says there is “a heightened threat of further terrorist attacks” in Bangladesh, although the threat level applies to many European cities, including London. It adds “foreigners, in particular westerners, may be directly targeted” and that “places where westerners are known to gather may be at higher risk of attack”.

It advises travellers to Bangladesh to “minimise exposure to these areas” and “remain vigilant, monitor local and social media and follow any specific advice of the local security authorities”.

Australia postponed their Test tour of Bangladesh in October 2015 after the Australian government warned of an increasing security risk to the team.

“Morgan has never expressed any positive views on making this tour, so his decision to pull out is not a surprise said former England fast bowler and BBC correspondent Jonathan Agnew.

“In his explanation, he refers to a bomb blast in Bangalore in 2010, an incident that profoundly unsettled him, as did civil unrest in Bangladesh. It won’t be lost on Strauss, though, that Morgan has returned to play in both countries since.

“However, having guaranteed that players’ futures will not be affected by this decision, it’s difficult to see Morgan losing the captaincy, as has been suggested in some quarters.

“Hales has effectively given another opening batsman the chance to take his place in Test cricket, although his future in that form was doubtful anyway. After a record breaking summer he’s sure to return to the one-day team in India.”

“The Gulshan cafe attack raised a lot of questions about the police’s ability to disrupt the terror network or bring the perpetrators to justice. A sense of fear had gripped both the expatriate communities as well as the locals who feared an escalation in the frequency and ferocity of attacks.

“But things have moved in the opposite direction lately. Since August, police have located and raided three hideouts of militants in and around Dhaka, killing 13 suspects.

“A sense of confidence is beginning to be generated among the population, that the police may be finally getting to grips with the situation.

“Despite these police successes, caution remains the mantra among expatriates.” – BBC

England, set 283 for victory, were bowled out for 207 after tea on the fourth day.

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took four for 69 for a match haul of 10 for 141 in his first Test outside of Asia and the United Arab Emirates.

Left-arm quick Amir, at the scene of his 2010 spot-fixing crime, ended the match when he bowled last man Jake Ball.

Victory saw Pakistan go 1-0 up in the four-match series ahead of the second Test at Old Trafford starting on Friday.

At tea England were 155 for six needing a further 128 runs to reach their victory target of 283.

The most England had ever made before to win in the fourth innings of a Lord’s Test was 282 for three against New Zealand in 2004.

England were making steady progress at 135 for four when leg-spinner Shah, who took six for 72 in the first innings, struck Sunday.

A ball after Gary Ballance had pulled him for four, Shah bowled the recalled left-hander behind his legs for 43 with a delivery that spun out of the rough. Moeen Ali (two) then charged down the pitch in an attempt to drive Shah, only to be bowled between bat and pad by a well-flighted delivery.

Shah had taken two wickets for two runs in six balls and England were 139 for six.

Rahat treble

Earlier, Pakistan’s Rahat Ali removed England’s top three batsmen in a breathless pre-lunch session that saw the hosts score 90 runs in 22 overs.

England captain Alastair Cook launched the chase with a four off the very first ball of the innings when he cut a loose Mohammad Amir delivery to the boundary.

All the pre-match focus had been on Amir, making his return to Test cricket at the scene of his 2010 spot-fixing crime.

But it was fellow left-arm quick Rahat who stunned England.

His back-off-a-length ball had left-hander Cook (eight) edging through to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed.

Cook’s opening partner Alex Hales made a brisk 16 before carelessly chasing a wide ball from Rahat outside off stump, with Mohammad Hafeez holding a good catch at first slip.

Joe Root, England’s new number three, struck two superb cover-driven fours off Rahat — one of the back foot and the other the front.

But the star batsman fell into a hooking trap on nine when he paddled a Rahat short ball to Shah, set back at deep square leg.

James Vince too got off the mark with a cover-driven four off Rahat.

Vince was on nine when his edged drive off Rahat flew to Younis Khan only for the second slip to drop both the initial low catch and the rebound.

Vince struck nine fours, mainly through the offside, on his way to a Test-best 41 not out at lunch without looking assured.

It seemed he might give a catch in the slips at any moment and he did so again early in the second session.

Vince added just one run to his lunch score when, not moving his feet, he edged a booming drive of a Wahab Riaz delivery that moved away to second slip Younis, who this time clung on at the second attempt. Earlier, Pakistan added just one run to their overnight 214 for eight.

Pace bowler Woakes led England off the field after taking five for 32 for a match haul of 11 for 102. AFP

Sri Lanka had gone through a horrendous run in the ongoing Test series being bowled out for totals less than 120 in their first three innings. But after being asked to follow-on for the second successive time in the series and facing the prospect of another innings thrashing, the Lankan batsmen put their heads down to make everyone sit up and take notice of them by producing a noteworthy display in the second innings at Durham.

Although the batting revival came a shade too late for Mathews’ men to save the series it has somewhat brought back the confidence that was missing in the dressing room and on the field. Despite Sri Lanka’s tremendous fightback England won the second Test by nine wickets to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

“Especially in the first innings, not scoring more than 100 was very disappointing. We talked about bringing back the fight – the Sri Lankan fight that we’ve not had in the last couple of weeks,” said Mathews.

“The boys showed a lot of resilience after the last five weeks, to come back and score 475 runs was very pleasing. The way (Dinesh) Chandimal batted and also Kaushal Silva and Rangana Herath – they batted well and fought really hard. The English bowlers bowled really well.”

Reflecting on what inspired them to come out of their shell Mathews said, ““We’ve talked about everything possible to get everything back. It’s just the character we talked about. We talked about our character and the fight. We’ve been talking a lot about it, but unfortunately we didn’t show it on the field.

“I thought we started showing it in the second innings while we were batting. We had a brilliant first day. We caught all our catches. But unfortunately we started off day two by letting Moeen (Ali) and Chris Woakes off the hook. Then we had a really bad day towards the end of the second day – almost getting bowled out. We had to fight really hard. All the batters worked really hard in the nets every single day before the start. We worked hard with the coaches and that was pleasing.”

Mathews said the way Herath batted the other batsmen could take a leaf out of his notebook.

“Rangana’s become a proper no. 8 for us over the past one-and-a-half years,” said Mathews.

He’s been scoring and hanging in there. If I recall a couple of years ago at Headingley he batted with me and got 49. He’s been giving his best with the bat and ball for us over the last couple of years. Every day he’s been trying to get better. Hopefully he can continue that.”

Mathews said that he was disappointed with the batting in the first innings because the wicket was much better than they got at Headingley.

“That’s why I was very disappointed. It wasn’t a 100-run wicket. There was much less grass than Headingley. It was not spinning much. It had a little bit of lateral movement, but there were no demons in the wicket. We could have got at least 250 on that wicket to give ourselves a chance in this game.”

Following Sri Lanka’s magnificent fight back England captain and coach both expressed the same views and said that Sri Lanka cannot be taken for granted.

“It’s hard for the Sri Lankan batters in one sense, but they are very good players, and most of the time on flat wickets you have to work very hard against them,” said England captain Alastair Cook.

“Credit to Sri Lanka, the way they batted in the second innings, and it shows how hard you have to work for Test match wins. It was only two years ago that they beat us at Headingley, so we shouldn’t take anything for granted.”

England coach Trevor Bayliss said: “Any time you can win two Tests in a row and win a series, wrapping it up after two matches, is a fantastic effort. The wicket flattened out and the Sri Lankans showed some of the fight that they’re quite capable of. They’ve got some very good players in their team. Yes, they’ve got some young players but we certainly can’t take it for granted in the third match.”

Of the six wickets Sri Lanka took during the day four were due to outstanding catches.

Skipper Angelo Mathews’ blinder of a catch at slip to send back Alex Hales for 83 was the top of the lot. The England opener offered a full blooded cut off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and as the ball flew off the edge Mathews dived to his right and held the ball one-handed.

Sri Lanka’s brilliant catching compensated for the Lankan bowling which was too friendly on the slow pitch where the odd ball kept low.

Dimuth Karunaratne picked up a fine catch at slip to send back Alastair Cook for 15, denying the England captain his milestone of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Cook started the day requiring 20 to reach the landmark but fell short by five when he was dismissed for 15.

Unless Sri Lanka put up a good first innings total, and make England to bat again in the second innings Cook may well have to wait until the start of the third and final Test at Lord’s on June 9 to get to the milestone. At Leeds, England batted only once and won the Test by an innings to go one-up in the three match series. Suranga Lakmal who replaced the injured Dushmantha Chameera pulled off a stunning catch at deep square leg when Nick Compton offered a full blooded pull with his score on nine.

The fourth catch of the day was held by Lahiru Thirimanne at short cover when James Vince drove at Siriwardana and the fielder diving to his right pulled off a ripper.

Sri Lankan bowling in these conditions looked harmless but their persistency paid rich dividends as they managed to prize out six England wickets.

Joe Root was the other England batsman to miss out on a hundred when he popped up a simple catch to Kaushal Silva at cover with his score on 80.

Hales and Root added 96 and Root also shared another half century stand with Vince. But each time England looked like running away with the game Sri Lanka managed to pull back and pluck a wicket.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Lankan bowlers finishing with three wickets for 69 including that of Jonny Bairstow the man of the match at Leeds with a career best 140. Bairstow fell to the second new ball attempting to slash at Pradeep and giving Dinesh Chandimal a straight forward catch after scoring 48 off 57 balls.

With Moeen Ali who was unbeaten on 28 at the close, Bairstow added 70 for the sixth wicket. Chris Woakes who replaced the injured Ben Stokes was not out eight.

Like Cook, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was also left seeking his 300th Test wicket. Herath created some problems for the batsmen with his guile and flight but England managed to overcame it and deprive him of the milestone. Herath is shy of one wicket from becoming the third Sri Lankan bowler to get to the mark.

Siriwardana considered to be the man with the golden arm justified his selection ahead of Dasun Shanaka with two wickets – both to excellent catches by Mathews and Thirimanne.

In the gloomy morning it looked as if Sri Lanka had got it all wrong when they left out Shanaka for the left-arm spin of Siriwardana, but later as the day progressed and the wicket started to get slow and keep low it seemed a good choice.

It seems the Lankans whose fielding had dropped drastically in recent times have worked hard in this area and the results are showing on the field.

The overcast skies gave away to bright sunshine during the final session of play. The forecast for the next two days is for good weather.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva were both unbeaten on nought after just two balls, including a lone leg bye, were possible in Sri Lanka’s second innings before the umpires called an early close because of bad light.

Sri Lanka ended the day 206 runs behind after being skittled out for 91 in reply to England’s first innings 298.

James Anderson took five for 16, his best Test figures at Headingley, including a spell of four for one in 29 balls.

New-ball partner Stuart Broad took four for 21 in an innings that was completed inside 37 overs.Only Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews (34) and Lahiru Thirimanne (22) offered any sort of resistance with the bat.

Wicket-keeper Jonathan Bairstow held five catches after scoring 140 — his first Test century in England — on his Yorkshire home ground earlier Friday.

Stuart Broad sparked a Sri Lanka top-order collapse as England took charge of the first Test at Headingley on Friday. Sri Lanka were 43 for three at tea on the second day, 255 runs adrift of England’s first innings 298 which featured Jonathan Bairstow’s 140 on his Yorkshire home ground.

Dinesh Chandimal and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews were both 15 not out in testing, overcast conditions. Broad, the world’s number one-ranked Test bowler, needed just 12 balls to take his first wicket on Friday.

Coming from round the wicket, Broad had Dimuth Karunaratne out for a duck as the left-handed opener edged an excellent delivery that nipped away through to wicket-keeper Bairstow.

Kaushal Silva, Sri Lanka’s other opener, was caught behind off a sharply rising ball from James Anderson for 11.

Kusal Mendis, like Karunaratne, fell for a duck when he edged Broad and gave Bairstow his third routine catch of the innings.

Sri Lanka were now 12 for three, with Broad having taken two wickets for no runs in three balls. Those early Sri Lankan wickets also highlighted the value of Bairstow’s runs — and how costly it had been for Sri Lanka to drop him on 70, half of his eventual score. Mathews — whose Test-best 160 laid the platform for Sri Lanka’s win at Headingley two years ago that clinched their first series win in England — defiantly cut Broad through point for four. But he was almost undone by the last ball before tea, with occasional medium-pacer James Vince producing a spiteful delivery that leapt off a good length.

England resumed on 171 for five, having collapsed to 83 for five on Thursday.

Hales and Bairstow took their sixth-wicket stand to 141. But there was no maiden Test century for Nottinghamshire opener Hales.

Dropped on 82, he was out for 86 when, losing patience after nearly five-and-a-half hours’ concentration, Hales holed out off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Moeen Ali and Broad both came and went, with Bairstow in danger of running out of partners before he got to three figures.

But an overthrown three saw Bairstow to his second Test century and first in England following the Yorkshireman’s 150 not out against South Africa at Cape Town in January. AFP

It took England only 80 minutes to take South Africa’s remaining six wickets for the addition of 38 runs, with man-of-the-match Moeen Ali setting the tone by dismissing batting kingpin AB de Villiers with the third ball of the day. He followed up with two more wickets and had match figures of seven for 116.

Cook said a key factor had been batting solidly in bowler-friendly overhead conditions on the first day after being sent in.

“It was an interesting toss, the overheads were suggesting you want to bowl first but the pitch was quite dry,” said Cook. “We would also have bowled first.

It was a matter of getting through that first day. The way Nick (Compton) played really set up the first innings. From that moment on, the guys bowled particularly well to take 20 wickets and we scored enough runs in the second innings.”

Cook said a convincing win against a strong South Africa A team in the build-up to the Test had given the players a lot of confidence. “It was particularly pleasing to back up our form under pressure in a Boxing Day Test match.”

With only a two-day turnaround before the second Test starts in Cape Town on Saturday, Cook said it was important to recover well and to avoid complacency. “It can turn very quickly. They have world-class players so we can’t get too carried away. But it would be nice to get our noses ahead again and to continue to put pressure on South Africa.”

Despite his fifth-ranked side defeating the current Test number ones, Cook said it was too early to predict a period of ascendancy for England. But he said: “The guys have taken big strides forward as a team over the last eight months or so. It’s a good side to captain, there’s a good balance, the guys are happy and they seem really hungry.

“Potentially this team can do some really good things. There’s so much talent in this side. But it will take relentless hard work and good results over a long period of time.”

South African captain Hashim Amla, meanwhile, admitted that his team’s batting had been “most disappointing”, especially following a poor performance on a similarly good batting pitch in the final Test in Delhi earlier this month during a losing series in India.

Amla said his team’s lack of batting form was “a confidence thing” and acknowledged that his own lack of runs was a concern. “As captain you want to lead from the front not being in the runs is most disappointing from me. It’s a developing team but certainly from my perspective getting runs on the board is most important.”