Zak Crawley – whether to open or bat at No. 3 for England in Sri Lanka
England’s two-test tour of Sri Lanka is on.
With the entire travel party testing negative for coronavirus, Joe Root’s side will fly to the subcontinent on Saturday afternoon and then prepare for the series that begins on January 14th.
Root has fond memories of Sri Lanka, with his team sweeping to a 3-0 test series win on the island in 2018, with their spinners as well as Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow among the favorites to them.
Sri Lanka vs England
14 January 2021, 4:00 am
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So, as England prepares for this winter’s festivities in Galle, we take a look at some of the key selection challenges ahead …
Who opens the baton with Dom Sibley?
That post was filled by Rory Burns last summer against the West Indies and Pakistan but a Surrey man misses this short series with his wife expecting their first child. Burns appears to be replaced by two candidates – Zak Crawley or the memorable Bairstow.
Crawley scored a double-legged goal against Pakistan from the No. 3 position last year
Crawley was first selected by England as a backup opener for the tour around New Zealand in 2019 and, after making his debut in that series at No. 6, settled in into the top of the order along with Sibley in the series winning over South Africa in early 2020 after Burns’ tour was cut short by an ankle injury playing football.
Crawley was moved down the order once Burns returned to fitness and scored 267 spells at No. 3 in the third Test against Pakistan, with his engines the 10th highest recorded in the world. ever with an English fighter in test cricket. After so long to find No. 3, England may be eager to move someone who succeeds in that place. However, in Sri Lankan conditions at least, there is another prime candidate to bat at the first fall, in Bairstow.
Bairstow’s trip to Sri Lanka in 2018 didn’t start too well with an ankle injury on playing football – yep, that one again – forcing him to miss the first test before being left out. out of the second despite a return to fitness. Remembered for his third game as a specialist bat at No. 3, the Yorkshireman hit his sixth and most recent Test.
Jonny Bairstow’s latest hundred test came batting at No. 3 in Sri Lanka
Bairstow’s form went away in 2019 as he only increased by 18.55 in 10 Tests, resulting in him losing a place in the side and then later his red ball midfield contract but with the spicy form his continuation in white ball cricket, the absence of Burns, Ben Stokes (resting) and Ollie Pope (injured) and the belief of many, including Andrew Flintoff, that he remains one of the top red-ball bats England, Bairstow is back.
Crawley is likely to open and Bairstow will come in at No. 3, although he could be the other way around. Bumble wouldn’t mind seeing Bairstow open, that’s for sure!
Dan Lawrence no Ben Foakes?
An uncapped Essex batsman – described by England’s national selector Ed Smith as “ingenious” and with a “presence at the loot” – is an option for the No. 3 spot but is largely part of a young career spent at county level and with England Lions deeper in middle order, so he may have marked a spot at No. 5 or 6, the spots left by Stokes and Pope. However, an England League player in Sri Lanka ‘s 3-0 win over just over two years ago will think the same.
Essex batsman Dan Lawrence is ready for his first England test tour
Foakes Wicketkeeper Foakes got his first test run in the first game of that series in Galle with Bairstow out injured and went on to score a ton in his maiden innings. Foakes also accumulated half a century in game two of Kandy and finished the series with 277 runs at an average of 69.25.
When you put in his good example – he is widely regarded as the best outdoor and outdoor keeper in England right now – then Foakes makes a strong case for return to the XI, something that allowed Jos Buttler to play as a special bat, which he did with aplomb last time out in Sri Lanka when only Foakes controlled more than his 250 runs .
Lawrence and Foakes – who have first-batting average of 37.96 and 38.78 respectively – could both play and join Sibley, Crawley, Bairstow, Root and Buttler in the top seven. height, but that would leave the visitors with just four front mattresses when they would really want five, with Root often valued as a spinning option.
He’s watching a shootout for one location between Lawrence and Foakes, with Lawrence – who also offers a few stops – in pole position. Foakes should have the opportunity to come up against India later in the winter with Smith confirming there would be a circulation through that series.
Ben Foakes was a player of the series when England beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in 2018
What are the spinners and how many?
During the previously announced 3-0 sweep in 2018, England’s spinning trio of Moeen Ali (18 wikis), Jack Leach (18 wikis) and Adil Rashid (12 wikis) asked for 48 scalds in a row that included spin includes 100 of the 116 wikis removed. England can call two of those three this time around, as while Rashid stays out of test cricket while aiming for the white ball game, Moeen and Leach are in, though not many shape behind them.
Moeen did not play Test from the 2019 Ashes opener at Edgbaston and recently spent months running drinks for England in South Africa and for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, while Leach last played Test in New Zealand in November 2019 with floods of illnesses kept him sidelined just as he looked ready for a steady run as England’s top spinner, giving Dom Bess another chance.
Moeen Ali has not played Test for England since August 2019
Leach Bess was unable to release in the summer of 2020 in England but after staying in the bubble as a backup, he also missed out on a chunk of county activity with Somerset and failed. he played just three first-team games all season – England’s warm-up and two for his club in the Bob Willis Cup. It is true to say that Moeen and Leach are a little short of cooking.
Bess has not confirmed his spot, however, with his figures moving since he picked up a five-wicket draw in the Port Elizabeth Test against South Africa last January, his second game after to be recalled. During six Tests against the West Indies and Pakistan last summer, he scored eight wikis at 55.50, although they were in conditions that were not very conducive to spinning bowling.
England need to not only decide on workers but also how many face spinners they need. It was three last time out but it may be two this time with Bess, Leach and Moeen not in amazing shape and Root able to offer a spinning threat, as well as the reality in the game. Sri Lanka’s latest home test series, against New Zealand in August 2019, did not affect spin so much.
Dom Bess has been the chief spinner in England since January 2020
Which steppers play?
If England enters with two spinners, it leaves three places available for distance and six men visiting for them – James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Olly Stone, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes.
The fact that Anderson and Broad have traveled to Sri Lanka suggests that they will play but one thing may appear in the first Test and the other in the second so that they have a game each one ahead of the scheduled four games in India since February 5.
Plus, with Jofra Archer taking a break for the Sri Lanka series, Wood is looking forward to injecting the distance, with Stone as a rear speedster.
Mark Wood should play in Sri Lanka with Jofra Archer taking a break
That could leave the final spot between Sam Curran and Chris Woakes. Woakes posted 17 wickets in five Tests in the summer at 20.47 and is said to be the best bat, despite Curran playing several important cameos down the order.
But Curran adds to the mix of being a left winger and the footprints he generated around a stump could benefit Moeen, Bess or maybe both. Conclusions, conclusions.
Watch the first Test between Sri Lanka and England live on Sky Sports Cricket from 4am on Thursday, January 14