Sibley deserves our praise, not criticism, for marathon heroics

Well played Dom Sibley. You gave this England innings a foundation, especially on the first day in difficult batting conditions. Your skill and determination to not get out on that first day was the key to helping Ben Stokes and yourself pile on the runs on the second day.

There will be criticism by some writers and commentators, and some back-handed compliments about your slow play. They will trot out all kinds of figures and where you are in a list of the slowest Test centuries for England. Take no notice. Best thing is not to read or listen to them. Does it matter all these meaningless statistics of how many balls you faced? How many minutes it took? If your captain and team-mates are happy, that is what matters.

I am sure every England captain and supporter would love to see six great, fast-scoring, eye-catching batsmen batting for our national team. That is wishful thinking and is never going to happen. For some time now, England have had difficulty in finding any decent batsmen other than Joe Root and Ben Stokes, never mind great ones.

Not everyone can be a crowdpleaser, smashing boundaries. Give credit for what Sibley has done. Yes he is a one-paced, one-dimensional player and always will be if he mainly scores on the on side. But that cannot be a surprise to our selectors.

The only question is whether we prefer a good-looking opening batsman who makes little twenties or thirties, or a guy who sees off the new ball and gives the innings a sound start so that the strokeplayers can bat freely at the other end. I know which one I prefer and which one will give England a better chance of winning.

Test-match cricket is supposed to be a test of ability, plus character and mental discipline, allied to

toughness. There is room for all types and I thought Dominic played a very important part in England scoring over 400 runs.

To bat for long periods in Test cricket requires concentration, patience and focus. When you play and miss you have to be able to put it out of your mind, like on the first day when the ball moved around. Many players find that difficult to do, as they fret and worry.

At this stage of his career, I do not think Dominic should change his game. He is young, naive and vulnerable to all sorts of wellmeant advice and it could confuse him. He was picked to play for

England because the selectors saw something they liked. Nobody starts their Test career as the finished article. The brightest ones and the best ones are able to adapt their game as they stay in the team and play more. Dominic should watch other batsmen and, when he is ready, incorporate some shots other people play into his batting.

There will come a time when he gets comfortable in the team and he is ready to try new things. At the moment he is a young man making his way, and staying in the team is enough for him to deal with.

Leave him alone and let him develop in his own time.

Nobody starts their Test career as the finished article