SOLID SIBLEY JUST THE MAN FOR A PRESSURE SITUATION
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES
ONE down in a series, controversy in the camp, stuck into bat under leaden skies overhead and no obligation to entertain a paying public. If there was ever a batsman for the predicament England found themselves in when play finally began 90 minutes late yesterday, it was Dominic Sibley.
When Sibley made his maiden Test century in Cape Town in January, he was 85 not out overnight. This time, he was one run closer to a hundred and admitted to having an equally restless night’s sleep.
Sibley recognised that there was fundamentally no need for England to rush. With Joe Denly dropped, he and Rory Burns are the cornerstone of England’s philosophy of batting time to allow the middle order a platform to have fun, which, barring a typically English collapse, they should have this afternoon.
He left 71 of the 253 balls he faced. He took 91 balls to hit a boundary and managed just four all day (although the outfield was so slow that there were more threes than fours). That leave percentage is only a little higher than his career stats; he has left alone one third of all the balls he has faced in Test cricket. There have been only 32 Test centuries that have taken more than 300 balls. Sibley was on course to make it 33.
“I do believe that I have more shots in the locker, but I chose not to use them, because I felt the risk was too high,” said Sibley of his ability to soak up pressure. “It’s come naturally from a young age. I’ve just been able to bat for long periods of time. From my short experience of playing Test cricket, there have been moments where you have to keep telling yourself to get through a tough period because a bowler is bowling well, you feel the ball is doing more and it’s a case of staying level and keeping concentration, then the runs might start to flow.”
Sibley is exactly the sort of batsmen that bowlers get excited about when stood at the top of their mark. He has weaknesses to prey on, from his habit of getting out caught behind square on the legside to balls aimed between his hip and chest, to an incapacity to rotate the strike against spin, even when there are massive gaps in the field.
It is fair to wonder whether the latter will make him vulnerable in the subcontinent this winter and the former will be exploited in Australia next year.
Yesterday, neither was of great concern, and nor was the number of gears he possesses. The West Indies attack was not going to drop short often, while he had Ben Stokes to play the aggressor against Roston Chase.
“It’s something I’ve been aware of. I got out a few times in South Africa and in the lead up to this game,” he told Sky about short bowling. “I wasn’t surprised they didn’t bowl more there because the wicket was quite slow, and with the overheads and the lights being on with swing and nip on offer. The best option was to pitch it up and swing it, try to nick people off or hit them on the pads.”
While Sibley always seems to give the bowlers hope, with each leave the West Indies became a little more ragged and tired. Today, he had the chance to make them pay.