pasty
A different kind of pasty
Another possible hat-trick......
Thank God the snail Sibley has been dropped 16-0
Sibley was awful though - one of the worst England openers I can remember seeing.
He's not the worst opener I've seen for England in the last 5 years.
Not that that's saying much
From best to worst (excluding Cook who's obviously head, shoulders, torso, abdomen and knees above the rest) for me since Strauss retired;
Compton
Hameed
Burns
Jennings
Denly
Stoneman
Carberry
Sibley
Crawley
Lyth
Robson
Hales
I assume Leach's 90 odd against Ireland puts him in the Cook bracket?
Seriously though, I'd say it's hard to judge Hameed on the few innings he's played, and there's a couple like Carberry who drew a short straw with the attacks they faced, but I wouldn't take too much issue with that order. Jennings probably needs two rankings for his record on the subcontinent and everywhere else.
Also you've missed Roy. I assume he dropped off the bottom of the rankings, or you've just sandblasted him opening in tests from your mind (I wouldn't blame you).
These are the stats for the period since Strauss retired, if anybody's interested:
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...al2=span;team=1;template=results;type=batting
I had forgotten Roy, which is worse as I actually watched him bat with Leach at Lord's that day. Never felt a crowd deflate so much at a wicket as when he fell.
I'd probably put Roy above Hales as Hales was atrocious. But that's a real marginal call and either is fine.