GET YOUR ENGINES READY... County Championship is off to a flyer
DOM Sibley was still in school when he became the youngest player ever to score a double ton in the County Championship – four years on, the Surrey batsman looks to have the maturity to fulfil his undoubted promise.
It was back in 2013 that Sibley, aged just 18 and three weeks, made 242 against Yorkshire to break David Sales’ previous record.
Rather than kick on, Sibley admits he let that success go to his head, and he has yet to add a second County Championship hundred to his tally – falling agonisingly short with 99 against Hampshire last year.
With the array of batting talent at the Kia Oval, the 21-year-old will have to fire to get his chance in the 1st XI, but with Jason Roy on IPL duty, the early part of the season looks like the perfect time for him to show that he has grown – starting against Warwickshire at the Oval today.
Sibley, who spent the winter in Australia, said:“It was an amazing day and I wouldn’t change it but I would definitely go back and change how I dealt with stuff after that.
“I could have done things a lot differently and maybe wish that I had but it’s also good to learn these things at this point in my career rather than when you’re 24 or 25.
“There were expectations that were put on by myself and other people and I don’t think I dealt with the situation in the best way I could have.
“That’s probably a fair assessment. It’s probably a bit more down to me and the way I did things.
“I was still at school. You walk back in and think you’ve cracked it, getting treated like a hero. It was great but the thing to do then was to get my head down and crack on.
“I’ve always worked really hard but I probably wasn’t training the right things. It’s not about the amount you train, it’s about how smart you train and I don’t think I trained smart enough.
“I struggled but I learned a lot from those experiences and feel a lot stronger for it.”
If pre-season is anything to go by, Sibley seems to have learned his lesson, having made a second first-class century – this one against Oxford University – as well as cashing in against Kent in a friendly.
Warwickshire have a promising young batsman of their own in Sam Hain, and the 21-yearold is looking to bounce back from struggles of his own in the county game.
He said: “My four-day form is something I have had to look at, figure out if it’s mental or technical, but I’ve done all the work over the winter.
“Hopefully, all that work will pay off and I’m looking forward to it.
“It was tough at some points last year because I’ve never had that down spike thus far, it’s something that I’ve learned a lot from.
“I’ve talked to the senior guys how they overcame it and I’ve taken a lot of knowledge from that
and I’m ready to get into the season and hopefully it all goes well.
“I haven’t had a long time in the first-class game but it’s not my first year so it’s that gap where you are in between. It was the first year where I’ve had to stand back and say, ‘what’s going on? I’m doing everything in my power but it’s just not happening for me’.
“It made it even worse when my one-day and T20 cricket was going quite well. It’s finding that middle ground of all three formats.”