Learning on the job is a tough gig for Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley

[ASFN Admin]

Midway through the evening session on day two, Kevin Pietersen popped up on Twitter to urge Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley to read an email he received from Rahul Dravid about playing spin in Asia. But there is a glorious example closer to home in Joe Root. Sibley and Crawley are floundering in their first Test series in Asia, their troubles reducing England to five for two in reply to Sri Lanka’s 381. England needed another spin clinic from Root and Jonny Bairstow to steady the wobble and at 98 for two the second Test is perfectly poised at the start of day three. Root, 67 not out, has been so good in this series that he has only been dismissed when gifting his wicket, either slogging runs to set up a declaration after making 228 or run out by his partner. Bairstow has not been quite as imposing, although Root sets the bar incredibly high, but with better footwork and tighter defence than the openers, he has posed questions about England’s decision to rest a player in form for the first two Tests in India. Pietersen consulted Dravid when he was searching for answers against left-armers and was essentially told to work on judging length and smother the spin, two facets missing from Sibley and Crawley’s batting.

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