It's infuriating, it's unprofessional, it's ineffective, it's really a lot of ins and uns.
If I was batting 6-7 and they batted this way around me, while I'm trying to forge a Test career and bat for my country, I'd be absolutely filthy. But the guys who historically did it, Boult/Southee/Henry and to a lesser extent Wagner (although at times he proved he could do better) were the senior players.
I almost guarantee that the younger brigade coming in after those names won't do it. I don't actually mind if Southee bats the way he does sometimes, because clearly it has effect in the right situations. And sure, you might miss out on a couple of knocks because you're asking him to be circumspect. But he gets too far wrong too often, and he also plays ridiculously dumb shots like trying to hook with 3 men back to a 90m boundary into the wind. And you're right, nothing annoys the bowling team more than having to spend more time out there, trying to come up with plans to chip out an obdurate batsman.
I don't buy that they were scared - well they were, but I just hate it as a narrative. I've pissed on about this, Trent won a national one-day batting prize at the NZ one-day champs. He's a low handicap golfer. Tim is a natural sportsman, a magnificent fielder. These guys can see the ball. They just chose to bat the way they did, and to not get behind it. Chris Martin used to. Will O'Rourke does. It's so lame. Even in 'Baz Ball' Jack Leach plays expansively some days, but by god if you need him to get 0 off 100, he will. Stokes' Headingley epic doesn't happen if he can't.