'Faith in youth' need of the hour for England as last dance beckons

Rory Burns has been dropped mid-way through the series after averaging 14.50 and so has Dan Lawrence, who is the only player among the five to not have passed thirty in a single innings in this series. Each of the five, with the bat, average less than both Ravichandran Ashwin and Dom Bess.

Since then, though, what we’ve learnt is that the first innings in Chennai were no real representation of the English batsmen’s - particularly the youngsters - ability against spin. In the five innings post the marathon effort in the first innings of Chennai, England have posted totals of 178, 134, 164, 112 and 81 and have lost a wicket for every 13.38 runs they’ve scored.

Not just in the second innings of Chennai, the warning signs were there in Sri Lanka. Sibley might have scored a fighting fourth innings fifty in the second Test in Galle, yes, but he survived three umpire’s calls en route to that. Up until then, he’d looked like a walking duck, particularly against the left-arm spin of Lasith Embuldeniya, who dismissed him 3/3 times in the first three innings. So it is no surprise that he has fallen twice already, in four innings, to a similar customer in the form of Axar Patel. Chances are that the ‘two’ could have been ‘three’ had he survived the spell of Ishant Sharma in the first session on Day 1 of the third Test.

Crawley, on the other hand, might have a fifty next to his name but he, arguably, is a bigger walking duck than Sibley versus spin, particularly left-arm spin.  Four times in the Sri Lanka series he was dismissed under 15 by Embuldeniya and now each of his last six(!!!) dismissals have been against left-arm spinners. The lacquer on the pink-ball might have had a hand in both his dismissals in the third Test, but the four innings across Galle suggest that Crawley’s struggles versus spin can be accounted to more than just the colour of the ball. 

But while naturally, the reaction to such debacles would be to overhaul the side and chop and change the players - if not immediately, at least the next time the country visits the subcontinent -  England find themselves in a situation where, instead of exerting pressure, there is an imperative need to treat this as a learning experience and back and nurture the current set of players. 

It is true that, despite botched team selections and some inconsistent and wayward bowling, it is the batsmen who cost England the series. Had they boasted at least a couple of more batsmen who were proficient enough to not get overwhelmed by spin bowling, they might very well have been ahead in the series. But if the ECB are true to themselves, and are seeking improvement, they wouldn’t try to sugarcoat the poor showings by pinning the blame on the batsmen alone. 

None of Sibley, Crawley, Pope and Lawrence, unless they do something extraordinary in the final Test, are going to come out of this series with their reputation enhanced - let’s make that clear. But that, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there has been no effort from their side to make things right. 

The sheer will-power and determination of Sibley, for one, has been mighty impressive. He might not have as many runs under his belt as he would have hoped for, but the Sibley who took guard in the second innings in Ahmedabad was a far superior and confident batsman to the one who looked like a walking wicket in the first day of the Sri Lanka tour. His 87 in Chennai is one of the primary reasons why England still have the minutest of chances to level the series and while his shot selection has been poor, his temperament and his defence, more often than not, has been encouraging.  

Lawrence endured a torrid time and to judge Crawley’s progress based on the pink-ball game alone would be harsh, but it has been evident that both are clear in their head about their technique and have their own method which they trust; such clarity will only bode them well in the years to come.  

Often, though, people tend to forget just how difficult a place India is to bat in - those, even great batsmen, who have succeeded in maiden attempts are in the minority. Kevin Pietersen averaged 27.62 in his first 8 innings in the country at a time when the pitches were easier and the Indian attack was inferior, while Ricky Ponting reached three figures in India only in the 15th attempt, prior to which he averaged 12.28. In comparison, the English youngsters are faring just about fine, against a superior attack on tougher surfaces.

That all of Sibley, Pope, Lawrence and Crawley are the best young batsmen in the country anyway is also more incentive for the ECB to back the quartet to the moon. The first three have been tearing County Cricket apart for multiple seasons now, while Crawley has shown that he is a precocious talent whose natural gift is matched by few across the globe, let alone in the country. 

Ultimately, this experience will only mould the batsmen who have been at the receiving end into much, much better cricketers. No simulation can ever match the kind of test they’ve been put through in this series, and given each of these young batsmen are quick learners who have shown a penchant to adapt and improve, they will only benefit from these failures, in the long run.