On Monday, the final day of a bore draw between Surrey and Essex, a handful of London Marathon runners gingerly stepped through the gates of the Kia Oval.
Surrey offered two free tickets to each marathon finisher for this match, a scheme the south London club drummed up to lift them to a new 21st century County Championship attendance record, previously set when 14,892 showed up for this same fixture last season. As it happened, the record-breaking attendee, No. 14,893, was a marathon runner coming to their first day of County Championship cricket.
You’d understand if they did not come back. If they were seeking respite from toil, it was not to be found here. If anything, the pitch probably reminded them of the central London roads that pummeled their joints for hours.
On Saturday, Surrey’s own marathon man Dom Sibley began what turned into his first century of the season. He got to the landmark on Sunday. It began with at least some jeopardy in the air after Essex posted 409 first up. He took 281 deliveries, and it was by no means the slowest of his 28 first-class hundreds. All bar four of his hundred-plus scores have seen him spend at least 200 balls in the middle, including both of those in Tests.
Sibley is 30, another landmark it feels like he has taken time to reach. Might another crack at the big time be forthcoming?
We are in the midst of a supposed correction after the 4-1 Ashes loss, with the promise of attention paid to county performances. With Zak Crawley averaging 19.66 across his first three matches for Kent, there is clear scope for candidates old or new to stick their hand up. Ben Duckett, with a far superior Test back catalogue, and 155 runs in Nottinghamshire’s defiant draw with Warwickshire, will remain and is increasingly likely to be walking out at Lord’s on June 4 preparing to face New Zealand’s attack with a new partner.
Well, an England recall four years after the last of Sibley’s 22 caps has never seemed closer. But it would be a huge surprise. Having spoken in pre-season about working against the stigma that he was a Boycott regen, this score of note on such a dull home track – on which he eventually bowled six overs of grim spin – will not have done the trick. His selection would require a far greater about-turn that what is being pondered.
It also does not help Sibley’s cause that this was his first century at the end of an April that has been full of runs. But it is a theme across the board. At a time when England are seeking an opening batter, none of those who do it as their day job are making compelling cases.
It also does not help Sibley’s cause that this was his first century at the end of an April that has been full of runs. It is, however, a trend across the board. Perhaps the new pitch regulation, of home teams losing all points for “below average” surfaces, has led to nationwide flat ones. But the cases put forward by opening batters on them has so far been as uncompelling as the cricket produced.
All 13 of the openers to register centuries in the Championship’s first month have done so just once. Barring Australia’s Jake Weatherald, the rest are English qualified. Four, including Sibley, have had a go before (Alex Lees, Haseeb Hameed and Sam Robson being the others).
Of the fresh blood, Ben McKinney‘s 244 against Gloucestershire was as a big a statement as there has been from an opener. A shame, then, that it has been sandwiched by scores of 8 and 38 against Kent, and 3 and 19 against Lancashire. Asa Tribe, in his first season in Division One, has yet to make the journey into three figures, though did see Glamorgan to another dull stalemate in the latest set of fixtures, with an unbeaten 67 to go with 84 against Nottinghamshire a few weeks ago.
Both wintered with the England Lions, a nod to the regard with which they are held. But it was another Lions tourists, Emilio Gay, who leaves April’s last round with his credentials enhanced for the opening slot.
A second century of the season, this one a match-winning 159 not out in pursuit of 336 against Lancashire, came while repelling James Anderson and the dangerous Lions seamer Mitchell Stanley. Despite batting at No. 3, it was a knock that broke Gay from the pack, and now chasing the mooted leader, James Rew. Another contender who has been operating behind the front two.
Somerset’s bye week meant Rew might have been glancing at scores to see who is closing in on him. But the 22-year-old should have rested easily having set the standard so far with 379 runs at 75.80, showing enough technique and nous to suggest he could handle being front and centre at the highest level. While none of his runs have been scored up top – all bar one innings (122 from No. 3 against Nottinghamshire) have been at No. 4 – it does not seem to be affecting his credentials.
That being said, England have reached out to Somerset about the possibility of Rew opening. It has merely been a suggestion from the former, with the latter happy to allow Rew to do as he has been doing, particularly while keeping wicket. But the man himself may want to take the initiative as we head into May and that first Test comes into view.
With three rounds to go before the Championship breaks for the Blast, Rew could choose to take the plunge against the new ball. Even a one-off go, such as this week at Taunton against Yorkshire, could have him home and hosed.
Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, along with the new selector – who could be named next week – are likely to convene after the second of the three remaining rounds, to decide on their squad for the first Test. Those names are expected to be revealed in the week of May 18th.
Even then, that might only bring us into the home straight. Two Lions fixtures against South Africa could be used to perhaps get Rew and Gay to open together and really duke it out. The first of those, beginning on May 22 at Arundel, seems the likeliest battleground given the second – May 29 at Beckenham – coincides with a training week at Loughborough before heading to London to kick off the Test summer.
With conditions expected to remain in batters’ favour for the next fortnight, the onus will be on the contenders to set themselves apart, even reclaim ground they might have lost in April. Who knows, even Crawley could break from the rear in Kent’s next three fixtures and reclaim the spot that was already his. There is plenty of this endurance race to run.
