Rory Burns excels but falls short of maiden Test century for England | Ali Martin

Rory Burns keeps a diary about his batting, regularly jotting down thoughts in the search for self‑improvement. One fancies his latest entry may read much like that of Blackadder’s Captain Darling on the day of the big push: “It simply says ‘bugger’.”

It was on the stroke of lunch on the fourth day here in Barbados, with just one English wicket snared, when Jason Holder called on Roston Chase.

The off-spinner is not a village as the name sounds – something England soon discovered – but should still have represented safe passage through to the interval following a morning battling the West Indian quicks.

Burns, having played positively for 84 runs up to this point, was standing leaning on his bat at the non-striker’s end for the first four balls – the last of which was a tickled single hit down to long-on by Jonny Bairstow and left him two to negotiate.

Local observers were noting it was not the optimum end for Chase, with the trade winds that blow in across the Kensington Oval likely to negate any drift away from the right-handed Bairstow and into a leftie like Burns. But drift the fifth ball of his over did.

Just a smidgen, mind you, nothing dramatic. But as Burns propped forward in defence suddenly a non-turning delivery slid on between bat and pad, kissing the off-stump and leaving him still hunting his maiden Test century.

It was not so much a case of Mr Burns as missed a straight one. And the sense of collective English disappointment around this famous old ground, from those wallowing in the party stand’s swimming pool through to those on the away team’s balcony, was palpable.

Nevertheless, the Surrey captain had looked the part for his highest score for his country. Curiously for an opener he likes to feel bat on ball and if at times this brought streaky runs to third man, it also meant loose deliveries were put away, via compact cover drives or rasping cuts.

He was more fluent in the first hour, when resuming on 39, but also had the sense to knuckle down when the wiry Alzarri Joseph delivered an impressive, probing spell during the second.

Burns is quirky in his setup, glancing to midwicket during his bat-wobbling backlift, but he meets the ball in a good position. Long Test careers often tend to be built on centuries gained early on but the suspicion is that, after four Tests, England like what they see in the 28-year-old.

Keaton Jennings, who for the second time in the match was caught driving away from his body with leaden feet, is a contrasting opener, both by way of approach at the crease and career trajectory.

The left-hander tasted success early on with a century on his debut in Mumbai in 2016 and has recently backed this up with his second in Sri Lanka. But despite being brought up on South African pitches, and having made his initial mark in England at Durham, a question mark hovers over his proficiency against the seamers.

Unlike Burns, Jennings opted to leave much of what came his way during their opening stand of 85 (England’s highest since Trent Bridge in 2017). But he also struggled for a release shot, so much so that when something full and wide came his way from Joseph he rather snatched at it, with Holder holding on at slip.

An impossible target of 628 over 200 overs may have meant runs were not all-important and it could be said by batting two hours for 14 from 84 balls – including the previous evening’s tricky late session – Jennings performed part of his brief in taking the shine off the new ball.

There is only Joe Denly in reserve as a batsman and though he has opened previously for Kent he batted at No 3 during the most recent county season. The sense is that unless Ed Smith, the national selector who is on tour, lobbies hard for his old teammate, Jennings will remain in place for Antigua.

But Jennings averages 17 from 11 Tests outside the subcontinent (ie in England and here) and will need runs quickly if he is to make the big push against Australia this summer.

source: theguardian.com