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ALJARI GRISONS

BARCA CRICKET Warwickshire opener Dominic Sibley and Somerset’s Tom Banton may be drafted in as England national selector Ed Smith names the Test and Twenty20 squads for the tour of New Zealand today.

Sibley furthered his case for a spot in the Test side by taking his tally in the Specsavers County Championship to 1,324 runs at an average of 69.68 with knocks of 215 not out and 109 against Nottinghamshire last week.

No other batsmen in Division One has passed 1,000 runs in 2019, while the 3,024 balls Sibley has faced indicates a disciplined approach at the crease, an attribute England were criticised for neglecting in the Ashes.

If the 24-year-old is selected for the two-Test series against the Black Caps that follows five Twenty20 internationals in November in England’s first assignment since Trevor Bayliss’ departure as head coach, he could open alongside Rory Burns.

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, as well as Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes were prominent in the World Cup and Ashes double header in an unrelenting summer schedule.

A couple of those established stars may be rested for the five T20s across 10 days, starting from November 1, when one or two unfamiliar names could be included, with Banton top of the list. Likened to Kevin Pietersen, he contributed in excess of 400 runs in both domestic limited-overs competitions, thumping 69 in Somerset’s Royal London One-Day Cup final victory.