But among all these, it was the fourth one that will most worry the hosts - Jonny Bairstow attempted somewhat of a combination of a cut, a slash, a waft and a push only to find David Warner sitting pretty at first slip. That culminated into a horror run of form for Bairstow in Test cricket. Since scoring 93 in a comprehensive win against India at Lord's last summer, Bairstow has totalled merely 282 runs in sixteen innings at a bleak average of 17.63. On the way, he has been dismissed for a duck as many as five times - the most recent of those being a pair against Ireland last week - apart from three other single-digit scores.

While the runs include a 110 on the spin-friendly surface at Colombo to help England into a series lead last November and a 52 at North Sound earlier in the year when West Indies'' pacers were breathing fire, a further analysis of Bairstow's lean run shows the pattern of getting bowled once every second innings. Eight out of those sixteen times have Bairstow's stumps been shaken, most commonly by the incoming ball at commendable pace. Often, Bairstow has been found guilty of pushing at deliveries or aiming for a drive against ones which deserved respect, thus resulting in the shattering of his stumps.

Perhaps with England seven down for 300, Bairstow sensed the opportunity to accumulate rapid runs. But with Chris Woakes at the other end and Stuart Broad yet to come, it is difficult to reason the same. England were only eighteen ahead and had lost three rapid wickets when Bairstow's half-hearted poke outside off handed over more of the momentum to Australia. James Anderson, a brittle yet adamant tailender, had all but been ruled out of the game already - he did not take the new ball in the second innings as how much of a part he further plays in the series remains unknown - which meant England needed a handy lead being a bowler short from day one.

The recklessness of Bairstow's dismissal today invited comparisons to a more limited overs-friendly approach, which has made him highly instrumental in the side's success ever since he made the opener's position his own from the 2017 Champions Trophy. His power and disdain against the new ball has been terrific in the last two years - all nine of his ODI hundreds have come in the same period - as his average and strike rate in ODIs have shot up to 47 and 104, respectively. But Bairstow's Test form has dwindled remarkably in the last year, leading to him losing the number three position - a spot which continues to bother England like a stinging bee despite Joe Root claiming it was his own will to bat there.

Bairstow has one more chance remaining in the ongoing Edgbaston Test - provided Australia set a decent target and he gets to bat - as day four begins with the visitors 34 ahead and seven wickets in hand. He has Ben Foakes breathing down his neck - the man who started with a century in Galle to be named the Man of the Match on debut nine months back to go with the Man of the Series award - and is regarded as a dependable wicketkeeper. Though he averages only 30.06 in the County Championship so far, should Bairstow continue to remain sceptical and unconvinced to deliveries aimed at his stumps, Foakes may find himself donning the gloves before Australia return home after the Ashes.