England batting coach Graham Gooch has demanded more from his side's top seven following a poor first day of their warm-up game against Essex.
All of the Three Lions frontline batsmen made it into double figures but none of them went on to make a half-century, as Graeme Swann topscored on day one with 62* in a total of 328-7.
"It's a fair total. But we'd have liked some of our top order to spend more time at the crease, and capitalise on their starts," Gooch told reporters.
"You've got to bat long. Once you get in, you've got to capitalise on that. Certainly, come this Test series, if we get starts we've got to put big totals on the board.
"The job of the batters is to create an opportunity for your bowlers to win the match. That's their job, and they know it is. It wasn't a disaster today. But obviously some of the guys would have liked to spend more time out there."
The first Ashes Test begins on July 10 at Trent Bridge.
Simon Sinclair
