EXCLUSIVE: Tough talk 'confused' England but the answer to their batting woes lies with Ben Stokes

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor believes England's batters are "confused" by the messaging around how to approach their work with the Ashes series sitting at 2-0.

Ollie Pope is currently the man under the most pressure for England after his 26 in the second innings was described as "scratchy" by critics.

However, one problem for England is a lack of depth. Jacob Bethell is the next cab off the rank but hasn't set the world on fire for the England Lions.

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England's approach has come under fire too, with Bazball declared dead by former Test cricketer and respected media voice Jonathan Agnew.

Taylor believes that's the key issue facing the visitors.

"I don't think it's necessarily the personnel with their batting. I think it's more their approach," he told Wide World of Sports.

"I feel watching England that the messaging is a bit mixed, and I think they're getting confused with how they actually want to play at times.

"They're being told to be expansive, to put their inhibitions aside and play with limited accountability but you can't do that. You can't do that in Test match cricket, because people will always hold you to account, and so they should. That's why it's called Test cricket, and I think they're finding that out the hard way here in Australia."

On day four, England's approach was considerably different to the identity its formed under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Stokes and Will Jacks batted defensively and kept Australia's bowlers at bay, leaving the side wicketless from the first session.

Much of that would've come down to a desire to bowl with the new ball in the evening session, much like Australia did on day three when Mitch Starc and Scott Boland batted beautifully.

For Taylor, that suggests the need to follow Stokes' actions more than his words.

"They batted in a very conservative way, and they flourished. But Ben is telling his young chargers like Harry Brook, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to be aggressive and to play without fear. But in Australia, if you do that on bouncy pitches, you get out," he said.

"And that's what's happening, they're getting out, and then people will hold them to account, even if you like it or you don't like it, it's going to happen.

"So I think that's where England need to sometimes look at how Ben plays more so than how Ben actually talks at times. Because he's certainly playing in a far more conservative way and plays very well when he does that. He sees off the first spell and bats for long times and when he gets on top then he can crush the ball everywhere.

"That's how Test cricket has been for a long, long time."

Stokes made a rather pointed comment towards his side during his post-match press conference after the second Test.

The captain had noticeably calmed down by the time he reached the Champions Room of the Gabba and explained his side is currently not the best at absorbing pressure as much as its capable of applying it.

Taylor says there's two ways to fix that.

"You either go really hard and swing from the rafters and hope you get away with it, or you back your defence, you knuckle down, and you get through a tough period and then when the bowler's have to come back for the second and third spells, that's when you flourish," he said.

"My way was always the second way, a lot of the younger guys in this England team seem to want to play the first way. They just go out there and swing hard and hope that the ball rolls for you.

"But on pitches where the ball carries through and bounces, which we've seen in the first two Test matches, that's a very high risk strategy.

"And when it doesn't work, people will hold you to account and as I said, people will hold you to account and so they should. That's why you're a professional cricketer."

Stokes comments had come only a day after batting coach Marcus Trescothick said there's been "no discussions" about driving on the up.

Driving on the up was a serious flaw for England with a number of batters caught behind at Perth while Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope both spooned catches back to Michael Neser in Brisbane.

Trescothick came under serious criticism for the comment, with Mark Waugh saying it was "astonishing".

The Adelaide Oval should suit that technique a lot more due to the Gabba and Perth offering more pace and bounce, however that will then present a new challenge to England and a need to adjust.

"That just comes back to game awareness, judging the conditions you're playing in and playing accordingly," Taylor said.

"The first two pitches we've played on have had bounce and carry in them so driving on the up has been has been high risk and England have found that out.

"Now in Adelaide that may not be the case and it might be a chance they can be a little bit more expansive, but that's Test match cricket again.

"The pitches are different, conditions are different around the world. What works in one country or one state doesn't necessarily work in the other and to be a good Test cricketer you've got to learn to adapt to the various conditions.

"I think that's the trick that they've missed in the first two Test matches, they've had their strategy based on very much even, low bouncing flat pitches.

"And unfortunately they haven't made enough runs and also their bowling's been another problem for them but they haven't made enough runs because they found ways of getting out because they play in a high risk way on those sort of pitches."