Zak Crawley will not be opening the batting for England in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4, of that we can be pretty certain. I suspect that decision might have been taken even if the Kent batsman had made a few runs at the start of this county season, but he hasn’t, and it is now time for a change, both for England’s sake and Crawley’s.
Time out of the spotlight will do him good. There is no reason why he could not come again at international level, particularly in 50-over cricket, because he has a proven record against some of the very best and quickest bowlers in the world. But, as obvious as it is to say, he needs to find a way of becoming a more consistent runscorer at all levels and in all formats.
It was noticeable in his most recent game, against Derbyshire, that he had been working on his technique, with it almost back to how it was in 2023, when he enjoyed such an excellent home Ashes series. His head is much further forward in his set-up, allowing him to engage his front (left) shoulder and therefore produce a much straighter bat swing. He received a stinking leg-before decision in the second innings, not his first this season, but, unfortunately, that is cricket, and batting is as much about luck as it is form.
Crawley was clean bowled for 44 by Derbyshire’s Andersson in Kent’s first innings in the last round — his highest score of the season so farKyle Andrews/Alamy
Ben Duckett, who has quietly averaged 51.6 this season, will surely be opening at Lord’s despite, ridiculously, not being permitted to do so by Nottinghamshire, for whom he has been coming in at No3. However, in truth, having looked in some detail at all the potential candidates to partner him, there is no one clamouring as the outstanding pick. You can actually see why Crawley was persevered with for so long.
There are other factors to consider, not least the input of a new national selector, for whom there were final interviews on Tuesday. Will the England head coach Brendon McCullum insist upon a complementary pair, as Crawley and Duckett undoubtedly were in terms of right-hand/left-hand, height and scoring areas? I do not think that is vital — just pick the two best players — but it can obviously be helpful.
Are England looking for a long-term option, for whom they will be willing to endure some pain, or will they just select a man in form right now? For example, considering the former view might lead to the selection of Ben McKinney, but the latter view might tend towards his Durham colleague, Emilio Gay. With due apologies to a friend who keeps touting Essex’s Paul Walter, and assuming Jacob Bethell remains at No3 because, as my colleague Mike Atherton has quite rightly pointed out, it would be “madness” to move him, let’s take a look at the realistic options.
Emilio Gay
Team Durham
Runs 473
Average 94.6
High score 159*
The Durham left-hander is undoubtedly the man in form, even if, like Duckett, he is batting at first drop for his county. Yes, he opened for his previous county Northamptonshire but surely the captain, Alex Lees, whose Test career has come and gone, could drop down and allow Gay and McKinney to open?
The 26-year-old Gay hit 24 fours in his 159 not out against LancashireStu Forster/Getty Images
He is averaging 94.6 after four matches, in which he has scored three centuries (albeit in Division Two, which is not his fault, obviously!). He is a well-organised player and is able to score freely off both front and back foot, if a little mechanically, with a presence — maybe even a hint of a strut — at the crease.
Gay does pull short balls up to chest height very well, but I have seen him struggle significantly against bouncers higher than that. I don’t like his front-foot trigger movement that crosses over his back foot and points to mid-off, leaving him susceptible to leg-befores.
James Rew
Team Somerset
Runs 388
Average 55.4
High score 122
Having praised Somerset for their preponderance of homegrown players, time for a little rant about Rew not opening for them, particularly against Yorkshire in their most recent match, when his brother Thomas could have kept wicket to free James from his understandable concern about performing both roles.
Yes, Rew has not yet opened in first-class cricket, but he did so in age-group cricket and for his club, Taunton St Andrews, and he is not going to displace Joe Root at No4, where he is batting for Somerset. Nor will he usurp the wicketkeeper Jamie Smith at No7, who, despite runs for Surrey at No3, is not a Test player in that position simply because of a front leg that straightens too readily against the moving ball.
Rew has an excellent case to open for both his county and EnglandHarry Trump/Getty Images
The left-handed Rew, who plays the ball impressively late, has the game and the temperament to move up the order. He has had problems in South Africa and Australia with the extra bounce, but that has been more about pushing his hands away from his body to short-of-a-length balls than any bouncer allergy. It would not be like the fish-out-of-water Dan Lawrence opening, as he did unsuccessfully in 2024.
I would pick Rew to open, and if Somerset do not give him the chance to prove himself up top in Cardiff this week, I would pick him there for England Lions against South Africa A on May 22, even though England intend to hold a training camp at the same time.
Asa Tribe
Team Glamorgan
Runs 254
Average 42.3
High score 85
If England are adamant about selecting a right-hander, then Tribe really should be their man, but unfortunately he has not yet made the weight of runs this season to justify that. He too is not a natural opener, and a previous problem of his pick-up tending to gully can resurface under pressure, but he has an unusually clear and confident mindset, and, standing on off stump, he is ruthlessly effective off his legs. He must open for the Lions against South Africa A.
Tribe is the only batsman in this list other than Haines who is yet to score a century in this season’s County ChampionshipSteve Poole/ProSports/Shutterstock
Dom Sibley
Team Surrey
Runs 380
Average 63.3
High score 187
Sibley is undoubtedly a better player than when he last appeared in Test cricket in 2021, having got rid of the ill-advised open stance and a backlift always looking to tap gully on the head, but he is hardly batting like Virender Sehwag either. Would McCullum consider such a stodgy presence instead of the freewheeling Crawley?
It is worth noting that when he was captain of New Zealand, McCullum backed Peter Fulton, now Middlesex’s head coach, as an opener with a Test strike rate of just 39.27 (Sibley’s was 34.22 in his 22 Tests). Worth noting too that Sibley’s Test average of 28.94 is lower than Crawley’s 31.18.
Sibley’s first-innings 187 against Sussex at the Oval in the last round came off 377 deliveries, with 12 fours and three sixesPhilip Brown/Getty Images for Surrey CCC
Ben McKinney
Team Durham
Runs 370
Average 61.7
High score 244
Ask me whether he or Gay can be the better Test player, and I will say McKinney. But the beanpole left-hander is not ready quite yet. He is still a better player when the ball is above waist height — where Test cricket is generally played — but needs to work on the consistency of his trigger movement and his dip before ball release so that he is better able to play the moving ball on a good length.
McKinney, 21, stands at 6ft 7inJacob Hurry/Shutterstock Editorial
Haseeb Hameed
Team Nottinghamshire
Runs 241
Average 34.4
High score 115
Even as a right-hander he is well behind Tribe and Sibley. He is a very good county player, but technically he does not seem to have moved on since his most recent Test in 2022, with an awkward closing off of his front shoulder in his stance and a tendency to put his front foot in the same position and rely on his hands, leaving him vulnerable to high pace.
Hameed last played for England in Australia in the 2021-2022 AshesSteve Poole/ProSports/Shutterstock
Tom Haines
Team Sussex
Runs 210
Average 30.0
High score 64
Haines just hasn’t made the runs. As a left-hander who likes to stay leg side of the ball he has been likened to Australia’s Travis Head, but relying on width to the extent that he does has its drawbacks, and others now appear to have overtaken him in the queue.
England’s Tests this summer
England v New Zealand
Thursday 4 June: 1st Rothesay Test – Lord’s, London, 11am
Wednesday 17 June: 2nd Rothesay Test – The Kia Oval, London, 11am
Thursday 25 June: 3rd Rothesay Test – Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 11am
England v Pakistan
Wednesday 19 August: 1st Rothesay Test – Headingley, Leeds, 11am
Thursday 27 August: 2nd Rothesay Test – Lord’s, London, 11am
Wednesday 9 September: 3rd Rothesay Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham, 11am