Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons Dominic Sibley is absolutely right for this England team. Vaughan feels it is not right to criticize Sibley for his low strike rate. Sibley scored his second Test hundred in the ongoing second Test match against the West Indies at the Old Trafford and showed all the patience in the world. The right-hander played old school cricket where he hardly hit the ball in the air.
Sibley has a solid technique and showed the gumption to play for long hours. He put up a prize on his wicket and there were no loose shots in his game. However, Sibley consumed 372 balls to score 120 runs at a mundane strike rate of 32.26. In fact, the right-hander scored only five fours in his knock and thus only 16.67% of his runs came in boundaries.
Dominic Sibley has all the patience
Sibley gave the platform to England after they were behind the eighth-ball on an opening day at 81-3. However, Sibley was criticized for his low strike rate on social media. In fact, Sibley tried to get a move on when Ben Stokes was belting the West Indies bowlers at the other end. However, Sibley could not rotate the strike at regular intervals despite going past the three-digit mark.
Hence, he went for a big shot but could not time the ball as he Kemar Roach took a good catch at the cow corner. Vaughan feels that Sibley should try to work on his off-side game as he scores the majority of his runs on the leg-side.
“England is a funny team to follow because we criticize them when they play flamboyantly and there were so many on social media criticising the way that Dom Sibley was playing,” Vaughan said. “He is absolutely right for this England team, that is exactly what England have required for a long period of time. Someone that just wants to stay in, value their wicket, bat a period of time.