I must bat more like Hayden!
England opener Lees vows to copy Aussie’s attacking game
ALex Lees will try to channel his inner Matthew Hayden to make the big score he desperately needs to prove he belongs at the highest level.
Lees has been an obdurate but limited presence at the top of the england order for the last four tests but, with Brendon Mccullum’s new broom of positivity sweeping through the dressing room, he knows he must expand his game to survive.
And he will go back to his youth for an example of how he can play and balance a more attacking approach with the defence that has seen him get starts in all but his first two test innings without yet going past 31.
‘early on at Yorkshire I played in one gear which was “attack, attack, attack”,’ said Durham’s Lees at trent Bridge yesterday as england trained ahead of tomorrow’s second test against New Zealand. ‘But the older you get the wiser you become and you approach things differently. I’ve probably absorbed the pressure more than I used to over the last few years and then some innings when pitches are good I’ve tried to play more aggressively. It’s about, particularly up top, assessing conditions and trying to play accordingly.’
so aggressive was Lees, now 29, when he first made an impact at Headingley that the then Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie gave him the nickname ‘Haydos’ after his hero Hayden. ‘I’m not sure there are too many similarities to be honest,’ smiled Lees.
‘But when I started watching cricket I loved to watch Hayden bat and also Marcus trescothick. those powerful left-handed batters who took the game to attacks. I’ve been called a lot worse! I’ll take it.’
the perfect example of the approach Lees is trying to take came in the second innings of the first test victory over New Zealand at Lord’s when he raced to 20 but then gave it away leaving a ball from Kyle Jamieson that took the top of his off-stump.
‘It was probably the most fluent innings I’ve had to date but I keep getting in and out which is frustrating,’ he said. ‘It was bittersweet to be praised for getting 20 but I have to take that now and turn it into a substantial innings.’
Jack Leach, who suffered a concussion on the first morning of the first test, played a limited part in training and england will assess today if he is ready to play. His
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replacement Matt Parkinson remains with the squad but the most likely change is for craig overton to play, particularly as captain Ben stokes appeared to be feeling his side in training yesterday and may want to play a limited role with the ball.
Meanwhile, ollie robinson faces another spell on the sidelines after having a cortisone injection in his troubling back injury. A scan on the problem that forced him out of all three tests in the caribbean and led to him pulling out of a counties select xI to face New Zealand was inconclusive but the seamer will be missing for another four weeks at least.