ENG vs NZ | Dominic Sibley is willing to grind bowlers down, believes Rory Burns
Rory Burns was all praises for Dominic Sibley, who is expected to make his debut for England against New Zealand, by saying he has the determination and character to bat long and has earned his place in the side. Burns has also shared that Sibley is a better choice than Roy to open in Test matches.
Having played only 12 Test matches, opener Rory burns is all set to pair up with his fifth opening partner and this time around it is expected to be a familiar face for him. His former Surrey teammate Dominic Sibley is taunted to be debuting in this Test series against New Zealand and will be the one on the other side as Burns takes the strike.
The two share a special bond, although Sibley left Surrey a couple of years ago, not only because they played a lot of cricket together but also because Burns was also at the other end when Sibley made his Surrey debut for the first-team and the seconds. Burns heaped Sibley with praise as he went on to highlight the determination and character he has shown during his 67-match long first-class career.
"I've known Sibbo for - we were trying to work it out the other day - since I was 12 or 13. I don't really remember him at school because I left Whitgift at 16. But I remember seeing him down at academy stuff, Surrey stuff and he only lives a town down so I gave him a lot of lifts when he was coming through in the second team. I remember driving him to most of those games," Burns told ESPNCricinfo.Â
"It would be a pretty cool feeling to open with him on his Test debut, too. I'm very proud of him to have got to where he has, particularly having left Surrey and doing what he's done at Warwickshire. That's a testament to his character.
"He showed all his attributes: his determination and his character to bat for days at a time, to put up the weight of runs he did and to bat the number of balls he did in tricky conditions you get in county cricket with a lot of assistance for bowlers a lot of the time. He's earned his spot."
Sibley seems to be red hot form this season as he not only scored more than 300 more runs than any man in Division One of the Championship in 2019, he faced more than a thousand deliveries more than anyone else in that division.
Although Burns is defensive of opening partner Jason Roy’s red-ball record, as he went on to point out that he out of his position, he pointed out that Sibley is a better option when it comes to opening in the longest format of the game.
"Obviously Jason's main grounding is white-ball cricket, but his red-ball cricket is very good as well. I don't think we can judge him on his Test career batting out of position. But I think him and Sibs' styles are slightly different. Sibs is more traditional in terms of opening the batting in red-ball cricket because that's where he's learned most of his stuff," Burns said.Â
"His concentration levels and determination to go about that process are his strong points. He likes batting time, he can bat days at a time and he's willing to grind bowlers down and not necessarily race away at the start of an innings. He's willing to build an innings and wait for people to come to him and pick them off when he can. Sibbo was the standout batter in the country regardless of position."
The two-match Test series between England and New Zealand will be kicking off on November 21 at the Bay Oval as the visitors will be looking to seal off the series after winning the T20 series.
