60 2GM Monday July 27 2020 | the times
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he set up his side perfectly for victory,
just as he did in Cape Town with his
maiden century in January. Better to
rely on the snails, not the tail.
When Test openers do their job, they
will not necessarily get the plaudits.
Since Sibley made his debut, Ben
Stokes has twice been man of the
match. On both occasions, Sibleyscored a century and united with En-
gland’s superstar in match-defining
combinations: two partnerships, 352
runs as a pairing.
Burns struggled in the first two Tests
under the peculiar spell of Roston
Chase. Had Joshua da Silva not lost his
footing, Burns would have been
stumped against his nemesis yesterday,his muddled head convincing him to
use his feet and walk straight past the
ball. Burns remained, though, and with
survival came a new plan: he swept the
off spinners with regularity, uncertain-
ty (at first) and, later, success. A bit of
luck, then a problem solved.
Today’s abject weather forecast
meant that the spotlight again turnedSibley plays a cut on his way to a fifty in an opening partnership of 114 with Burns, who managed a second half-century ofHolder’s bruised
and battered
A tough day for West Indies captain
Jason Holder was compounded by a
thumb injury suffered when an edge off
Rory Burns fell just short of him at
second slip. He was forced off but
recovered to bowl later in the inningsOpening
pair perfect
art of how
to ‘win ugly’
since 2016, and the first time both open-
ers had reached 50 since Haseeb Ham-
eed and Alastair Cook did so that same
year.
Burns and Sibley’s record together is
430 runs in ten innings. These are early
days but Cook and Andrew Strauss av-
eraged less than that together in Tests
and that is the combination England
have tried and failed to replace over the
past eight years.
You have to go back to 2011, when En-
gland were the world’s best side, for the
last time English openers fared so well
with the bat in a calendar year. Between
them, Burns and Sibley have scored 751
runs at 53.64 in 2020. Nine years ago,
the openers averaged 56.50. You
then have to retreat far-
ther to 2002 and 1992 for
years in which Nos 1 and
2 averaged above 50
across a calendar year.
For Sibley, this has
been a series of feast
and famine: duck, fifty,
century, duck, fifty. His
hundred in the second
Test made plate tectonics
look racy and Sky punditry
suggested that his low
strike rate was putting the
lower-middle order under
pressure — they would
probably rather come in at
341 for four off 126 overs,
as opposed to 30 for four
on the opening morn-
ing. For all the criti-
cism of Sibley dur-
ing that innings,Watching Rory Burns and Dom Sibley
bat together for more than 40 overs is
an acquired taste. Batsmen who look el-
egant find greater favour as if their runs
are worth more, and are granted more
leeway for their faults. This opening
duo will never be afforded such treat-
ment, though their dour, methodical
styles are just what England need.
Burns and Sibley’s idiosyncrasies will
be etched in our memories long after
they are gone. And not without just
cause: Burns stares coyly at the
bowler through his
“wrong” eye, willow
wafting, a quick squat
as the bowler runs in;
Sibley holds his bat out
wide as if there is a chest
of drawers under his arm-
pits.
Every time Burns, 29,
and Sibley, 24, plod along
at three runs an over, or
worse, the benefit of the spec-
tators’ doubt will not go their way.
Always a bit too slow, one Test near-
er than aesthetes to being
out of nick. Here, they
put on their first century
partnership in Test crick-
et, both men passing 50
in the same innings. It
was only the second time
an England opening duo
had reached three figures
Burns drives during his
second innings of 90
Elgan Alderman
Sport England v West Indies: Third Test