Despite all that, pundits have heavily criticized England's middle-order confusion as Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Butler, and the ever-sacrificing team man Moeen Ali have repeatedly shuffled positions in the batting line-up. Among those, Root still needs to master the art of converting fifties into hundreds, selectors have dropped both Bairstow and Moeen, and Butler is struggling to adapt to red-ball cricket.
Recalled into the side for the home summer in 2018, Butler started well as a specialist batsman at number 7, most notably with an attacking unbeaten 80 at Headingley and his maiden Test century at Trent Bridge against Pakistan and India, respectively. He carried that confidence with him to Sri Lanka later that year, where he averaged 41.67 in a 3-0 series sweep.
But his returns have diminished ever since. Despite relieving him of wicket-keeping duties, Ed Smith and the England management have now witnessed four consecutive series - including the 2019 Ashes at home - where Butler's batting has raised more questions than providing answers to a team with multiple new faces and future promise. In 13 Tests since January 2019, he has aggregated just 583 runs at 23.32 with a highest score of 70 and only three half-centuries despite arriving at relatively comfortable situations at times.
Currently, England are benefiting - at least temporarily - from contributions from new and inexperienced faces such as Burns, Dom Sibley, and Ollie Pope. Pope even kept wickets in Butler's absence at Hamilton recently. Finding a place for an inconsistent Butler is proving as difficult as accommodating an erratic Joe Denly.
It was a brave call to hand over a Test debut to Denly at 32 on the West Indies tour last January after dumping one opener after another post the retirement of Strauss and Cook. Unfortunately, that move has not paid off despite giving Denly a long rope since. Though Denly's starts have been promising after settling down against the new ball in the top order, he has thrown away assurances of his team and often, cracked open contests for the opposition.
SA vs England 2019-20: England must move on from Butler and Denly in Tests
There is no doubting that the England batting line-up in Test cricket has been a circus since a long time. Ever since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012, one opener after another accompanied Alastair Cook at the top; and once Cook departed six years later, there arose the question if England would ever find someone at least half as assuring - they would probably never find one as dependable - as Cook. But Rory Burns' impressive returns have helped take steps to settle that debate before he vacated his own spot with a long-term injury.