Former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss admitted that conditions at Trent Bridge were challenging for the opening batsmen, but the players like Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, and Zak Crawley must grab the opportunity and be more consistent to win Test matches against India.
England’s top-order has looked really fragile in recent times and it was badly exposed in the first Test against India, as the hosts were bowled out for 183 in the first innings at Trent Bridge.
Ahead of the second Test at Lord’s starting from August 12, England’s former Director of Cricket Strauss stressed that Burns, Sibley, and Crawley all have the challenge to perform consistently to help England win games.
Read Also: ENG v IND 2021: England skipper Joe Root blames COVID-19 for inconsistency of his team
As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Strauss said: “It is a case of must do better. It's been very tough. You've got to go back a long time to see conditions that have been as challenging for opening batsmen. But ultimately, that's what they're in the job to do and someone at some stage will grab that opportunity with both hands.”
He further explained, “We've seen instances where Burns, Sibley, and Crawley - all three of them - have been able to do it, but as we know, the key to having a long England career is doing it consistently. We haven't seen that, so that's a challenge for them.
They're no different to me and Alastair Cook and Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch when we started, it's a huge challenge and you either pass that challenge, or you don't and someone else gets a go.”
Meanwhile, the former skipper said if England’s top-order fails to fire in the second Test, then it will be possibly their last chance while backing Haseeb Hameed to play against India at home.
Strauss explained, “The selectors have always got that challenge around when's the right time to take someone out of the action. That's often dependent on a hunch or an opinion that the coach might have, around where they are psychologically and how well they're playing off the pitch, in the nets, etc.
I've always felt generally it's better to give one more Test than one too few Tests. But I was up at Trent Bridge last week and I was looking at Haseeb Hameed in the nets and he looked very impressive.”
He signed off by saying, “Not that that means anything, as we know, but I'm sure he'll be chomping at the bit to get an opportunity and if they don't make the change this week, then I think that top order will know that they're in the last-chance saloon.”
(With ANI Inputs)
