Smith averages 34 against left-arm spinners and England will hope Leach nullifies the biggest Australian threat. © Getty

"He'll tell you one that pitches outside leg and takes the top of off."

Jos Buttler is in good spirits ahead of the second Ashes Test at Lord's, especially when discussing how his long-term friend, Jack Leach, may size-up and shift the immovable object that is Steve Smith.

In the last month, England have won a World Cup, almost been humbled by Ireland and then found themselves 251 runs short of Australia. Invariably, nothing matters more than the recent and, 1-0 down in an Ashes, panic stations it is. Moeen Ali has been dropped. The left-arm of Leach seen, somewhat, as the remedy, along with Jofra Archer who will debut at Lord's replacing the injured Jimmy Anderson.

As it happens, Smith, twin centurion at Edgbaston, averages the least against left-arm spin: just 34, but that number requires a degree of perspective. Nevertheless, Archer's pace may be the first bullet fired at the former Australian captain, but Leach won't be too far behind.

"I'm excited for him," said Buttler of Leach's opportunity. "He's worked very hard to be in the position he's got himself to. He'll come in and he's a great person to bring into the team. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of skill with the ball. And he'll be excited for the challenge. I'm sure he'll be looking forward to batting at Lord's again."

Lord's again. Just two weeks ago, English cricket in gay abandon, embracing the chaos, saw Jack Leach opening the second innings against Ireland as a nightwatchman and register 92. What they would do for such solidity now. Aside from Rory Burns' maiden Test hundred - 133 - there was little to hold onto for the English top seven beyond fifties from Joe Root and Ben Stokes that should have yielded more. The fourth innings capitulation of 146 all out compounded the misery.

The England camp, gladly, has retained a bit of perspective among the calls for mass changes. A bit of time-off between now and the fifth day of Edgbaston - August 5th - and Buttler feels the squad are better for it. And in this period, he has been able to look honestly at what went down.

"I think my view is we didn't play well enough for long enough," said Buttler. "The first couple of days especially we played a lot of really good cricket and got in a really good position. Any time you lose James Anderson is a huge moment in the game, isn't it? But coming here we'll prepare well.

"There's no need to panic. We're one-nil down, there's four matches to go in the series. And Test cricket is hard, you're playing against the best players in the world. If you're not good enough for long enough, then you're not going to win the game. But you know, we've got a fantastic team and like you said, stay calm. Nothing really changes apart from we've lost that game but we come here with a lot of excitement and belief that we're a good enough side to win this Test and make it one-all."

Buttler was also keen to address the idea the players are still suffering physically from a gruelling World Cup success. That, he says, is no trouble. If anything, it is something to spur them on, especially from this position of weakness.

"The World Cup is not a hindrance. I think it should be used as a positive. You know, the feeling around the country, we'll use the momentum of that. We don't need to use it as a negative. Of course it's gone now and we're focussed on Test cricket, but there's no hangover from that. It's done now, we're excited for the Test matches and we need to turn up, prepare well and play well.

"I think being an English cricketer this summer is two incredible events that get you very excited and give you a lot of energy. Certainly, for me it was nice to have a bit of time away to sort of let what happened sink in and get energised for the next challenge.

"Sport moves on very fast doesn't it? It's a huge challenge straightaway after the World Cup which is really exciting. What an incredible opportunity this summer is to be a part of it. Both incredibly huge challenges and the rest of the Ashes series is going to be great."