Challenge for Burns, Sibley and Crawley is to be consistent, says Andrew Strauss
Aug 11, 2021
London [UK], August 11 : Former England skipper Andrew Strauss believes that the likes of Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, and Zak Crawley need to be more consistent if the Three Lions want to win more Test matches.
Over the past few series, England top-order has looked really fragile and this was even exposed in the first Test against India which was held at Trent Bridge.
"It is a case of must do better. It's been very tough. You've got to go back a long time to see conditions that have been as challenging for opening batsmen. But ultimately, that's what they're in the job to do and someone at some stage will grab that opportunity with both hands," ESPNcricinfo quoted Strauss as saying.
"We've seen instances where Burns, Sibley and Crawley - all three of them - have been able to do it, but as we know, the key to having a long England career is doing it consistently. We haven't seen that, so that's a challenge for them. They're no different to myself and Alastair Cook and Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch when we started, it's a huge challenge and you either pass that challenge, or you don't and someone else gets a go," he added.
The first Test between India and England ended in a draw after rain played spoilsport on the final day of the Test. The visitors looked set for victory, needing 157 runs to win on the final day, with nine wickets in hand, but the weather gods had something else in mind.
"The selectors have always got that challenge around when's the right time to take someone out of the action. That's often dependent on a hunch or an opinion that the coach might have, around where they are psychologically and how well they're playing off the pitch, in the nets etc," said Strauss.
"I've always felt generally it's better to give one more Test than one too few Tests. But I was up at Trent Bridge last week and I was looking at Haseeb Hameed in the nets and he looked very impressive. Not that that means anything, as we know, but I'm sure he'll be chomping at the bit to get an opportunity and if they don't make the change this week, then I think that top order will know that they're in the last-chance saloon," he added.
England and India will now lock horns in the second Test, beginning Thursday at the Lord's Cricket Ground.
