James Anderson has confessed that England need to vastly improve if they are to have any chance of beating Australia in this year's Ashes series.

England trail West Indies by 75 runs at Headingley following centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope on day two of the second Test.

A week on from crushing the same opposition at Edgbaston, Anderson admits that a lack of consistency is an issue that his side need to resolve ahead of their first Test clash against Australia in November.

"We didn't bowl very well. Even on pitch with life in it you have to put the ball in right area," he told reporters. "We talk about bowling in partnerships but we did not do that much today. There was always a release at the other end. We bowled a lot of bad balls.

"I thought we had got on the right side of being consistent with two wins against South Africa and at Edgbaston. We are still evolving as a side and ironing out those inconsistencies are big thing for this team going forward. We have a big tour of Australia coming up and we can't go there and win the series if we are inconsistent.

"They batted brilliantly. They played the conditions very well, going through the tough periods and as day went on they cashed in. I think our batsmen could have learned from way they applied themselves. We have just got to look at ourselves. Did we create enough pressure? Did we put enough balls in the right areas."

England won their last three outings heading into the second Test against West Indies at Headingley.