Sibley strength is now greatest source of jeopardy
To hit his way out of trouble, even through leg side, opener has surely entered the ‘Critically Endangered’ category
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Like the World Worldlife Fund, the England Test batting line-up must always have a “Critically Endangered” category. After Zak Crawley was dispensed with at Lord’s, Dom Sibley might have sensed his own recategorisation: from merely “Endangered” to “Critically Endangered”, the most vulnerable member of the England top order.
For some in this precarious place, the natural retort would be to attempt to hit their way out of their rut. For Sibley (right), this choice does not exist. And so, as he walked out at Lord’s, Sibley’s only option was to play in the same adhesive way that he has made his trademark. It is a prospect that few of those who snapped up a morning ticket for £165 would have relished. But then, Sibley must reasonably point out, Test cricket is not like figure skating: there are no points for style. While his essential method remains unchanged, Sibley has responded to the growing pressure on his place by tweaking his technique. This series, he is batting notably more side on, and less open-chested. It is still ungainly and peculiar, just a little less so than the old iteration.
If the tinkering was partly designed to make Sibley a little more dynamic, it has had the opposite effect. Notwithstanding one fine straight drive to get off the mark off Ishant Sharma at Lord’s, Sibley has been more strokeless than ever against India.
India have reacted to Sibley’s new technique by tinkering with the normal opposing plans to him. Bowling on a good length just outside off stump remains an excellent option to him. But where Sibley was once ruthless against balls on his pads, now even these have become a source of potential weakness. This series, Virat Kohli has hatched a novel plan to Sibley. If he is not dismissed in the first overs of the new ball, India have decided to pack the leg side, with two or three fielders placed in the air for Sibley’s on-side clip. In the process, Sibley’s greatest area of run-scoring strength in Test cricket has become a source of jeopardy. Just as in the first innings at Trent Bridge, at Lord’s Sibley was dismissed flicking a ball to short midwicket.
Opening in Test cricket, especially in England, is a hazardous business. The greatest concern about Sibley is the sense that, even when he withstands the new ball assault, he has nowhere to go.
It takes considerable skill and defiance to last 247 balls in three innings against an attack as skilful as India’s. The trouble is, Sibley has only scored 57 runs along the way. More concerning than the paucity of
boundaries has been the absence of the scampering between the wickets that has been a hallmark of the approach of India’s openers.
Sibley is an admirable cricketer, striving to maximise every iota of his talents. But, increasingly, the suspicion is that it is not quite enough. In 10 Tests this year, Sibley is now averaging only 20.9. His issue this year has not been about whether the bowling is spin or pace. This year he averages 20 against spin, and 21 against pace.
The problem has been who is receiving it. Twenty-two Tests into a career, a batsman with two Test centuries ought to be evolving; instead, the impression is of a man trying to tread water while going slowly under.