DOMINATOR
CRICKET EXCLUSIVE L plates are off and Sibley is now in pole position to drive England forward on the tour of Sri Lanka
IT may have taken him a while to pass his driving test – but Dominic Sibley’s L plates at the top level of cricket have already been consigned to history.
Sibley was one of the stand out performers for England on their recent triumphant tour to South Africa.
The Warwickshire opener finished the series with 324 runs at an average of 54. That tally included a maiden Test century in a famous England victory at Cape Town back in January.
His form has secured him a place at the top of the order for England’s tour to Sri Lanka.
And it could well earn him an opening berth alongside his former chauffeur Rory Burns (both right) when the 2021/22 Ashes series rolls around.
“I didn’t pass my driving test until I was about 20, I was useless,” said Sibley, now 24.
“I failed my theory test about four times. Rory was my taxi driver!
“I grew up with Burnsy, I made my second-team debut, first-team debut and then my
Test debut batting with Burnsy, which is pretty cool.”
Ironically, it was in Burns’ absence that Sibley found his feet in the longest format after struggling initially in New Zealand at the tail-end of last year.
His former Surrey colleague injured ankle ligaments while playing football in the run-up to that second Test in Cape Town.
Attacking
That suddenly made Sibley the senior partner in comparison to 22-year-old Zak Crawley for the remainder of the series.
The pair wasted no time in finding their feet, putting on 70 together in Port Elizabeth before compiling partnerships of 107 and 56 in Johannesburg.
That hundred partnership was England’s first in the first innings of a Test since July 2009, when Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss were the men in possession.
Given Burns’ injury, Crawley and Sibley are likely to be given the chance to continue their run together in Sri Lanka next month.
And Sibley, who is currently with the England Lions on their tour of Australia, can’t wait to get cracking again.
“I get on really well with
Zak, he’s a top kid,” said Sibley. “The way we play is a little bit different. He’s probably a bit more attacking than me in the red-ball stuff. I’ve enjoyed batting with him this winter.
“It’s always nice when you’ve batted with someone for a long time and you get on with them too – that’s always a massive bonus.
“Opening the batting is such a tough job. You’re facing
bowlers when they’re at their freshest, they’re steaming in and, if you fail, then you cop it. Runs are currency for a batsman and, if you fail then you get slammed, that’s just the way it is.
“It’s the toughest place to bat and you go through those ups and downs with each other.
Appreciation
“It’s nice when you see someone do well and, when that happened in South Africa, there was a real appreciation of each other’s work.”
Suddenly, from scrabbling around for openers, England have competition for places.
Burns will be watching on as Sibley, Crawley and the recalled Keaton Jennings battle it out in Sri Lanka.
Sibley, meanwhile, will be hoping to keep England in the driving seat.