‘Baby Boycott’ can rediscover top form if

ONE of Lancashire’s biggest quandaries this winter is what to do with Haseeb Hameed.

Two years ago, the Red Rose opener was seen as the long-term replacement for Alastair Cook.

His impressive displays in his first three England Test matches in India suggested he had everything he needed to be a mainstay of the national team for a decade and more.

But now, 25 months on from his Test debut, he isn’t fighting for a place in the England side, he is fighting for his career.

The concerns started in 2017 as he suffered second-season syndrome, scoring just 522 runs in 24 first-class innings for Lancashire.

But everyone assumed it was a blip. A player who looked so at home at Test level, and who had made 1,198 runs in 2016 including four centuries - doesn’t become a flop overnight. But last season was even worse. He couldn’t buy a run. In his 18 innings, he scored a measly 170 runs, at an average of nine in the County Championship. It saw him dropped from the Lancashire side.

At 21, time is on his side. But how does he rediscover the form and ability everyone knows he is capable of?

“Everybody you ask, whether they are sitting in seats at Old Trafford or in my position, would say that Haseeb Hameed is one of the best young talents seen in England for many, many years,” Lancashire’s director of cricket Paul Allott said.

“He played brilliantly for England in India and unfortunately hasn’t got anywhere near that form since.

“He has to get himself back to where he was.”

That process could start abroad this winter, with Lancashire exploring opportunities for him to play overseas.