To describe Rory Burns as a dark horse would be something of a compliment. For most of his career he hasn't even been on the England radar let alone a player earmarked for greater things.
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that Burns was in with a chance of a Test match call up later this month as England look again to reshuffle a top order which has seen so many changes since the retirements of Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott. If Burns does make it into the Test team then he will have done it the hard way. His appearance for the England Lions last week against India A was his first appearance for his country at any level, period. Cricket like most major sports these days is one where players are generally identified for higher honours at an early age and then put through the age groups, academies and 2nd XIs until they are handed their almost preordained destiny at the highest level. The term that is often used with such selections is that a player is "the next cab off the rank".
Certainly some of the other names that I included in my list of players to watch are individuals that have been groomed for England honours for some time. Joe Clarke for example played at U-19 level for England for a couple of years and is now in the A team. Nick Gubbins has been an England Lions regular and Dawid Malan had appeared in an England performance squad as early as 2008. Yet for Rory Burns despite a consistent level of performance the recognition that he could one day have the talent to represent his country was a long time coming.
In an interview earlier this year Burns himself spoke of the surprise that he hadn't at least had a closer eye cast over him by the England hierarchy. He said
"I’m disappointed not to have got a call at some stage, at any level, be it the Under-12s or the Lions. You see some other names get called up and you think, ‘Hold on a minute…’”
Certainly the figures above suggest that Burns was right to be somewhat miffed at his lack of chances throughout the years. However, perhaps his patience and consistency is about to finally be rewarded. Indeed that appearance for England Lions last week saw him also handed the captaincy ahead of the likes of Alistair Cook and Chris Woakes who was playing to get some practice after his injury and even ahead of Dawid Malan the man whose place in the Test team looks to be most under threat from Burns and a player who has captained the Lions on multiple occasions in the past. New Chairman of selectors Ed Smith's decision to give control of the team to Burns was a ringing endorsement of both his run scoring ability and also his leadership qualities. Not only is Burns the highest scorer in Division 1 this season but his Surrey team of which he is now captain sits a top of the Championship table and in pole position to claim their first title since the glory years of 2002 (Surrey won the championship 3 out of 4 years between 1999 - 2002).
That position was strengthened yesterday after Surrey had as close to a perfect first day as Burns could have asked for. Surrey being the away team decided to bowl first (there is no toss these days in English first class cricket) on a pitch with a green tinge to it. Jade Dernbach struck with the 2nd ball of the day to remove Steven Mullaney and Surrey never looked back, knocking over Notts for 210 just before the tea interval. The challenge for Surrey and Burns in particular would now be to try and establish a lead on the same green pitch against a Notts seam bowling attack that included Stuart Broad (417 Test wickets), Jake Ball (24 appearances in all formats for England over the past couple of years) and Harry Gurney (14 wickets for England in white ball cricket). In my previous post, I had expressed that one of the common criticisms of Burns and all Surrey batsmen was that the Oval is always such a good wicket that over the course of a season any half decent top order batsmen should make runs. However, Burns proved yesterday that he is more than just a flat track bully by making a fluent 97 in more challenging conditions.
Perhaps one of the things that has counted against Burns is his somewhat unusual technique that includes a big trigger movement from a crouched position with a slight look to midwicket as the bowler is delivering. Certainly this is likely to explain his propensity for scoring on the leg side and through backward point but should it have resulted in him be excluded from England consideration for so long?
The crab like Shiv Chanderpaul had even more exaggerated movements at the crease and finished his career as the 7th highest all time run scorer with 11,000+ runs at an average of over 50. However, from an England perspective perhaps Burns most resembles Alastair Cook. While the techniques differ somewhat, the thinking is very much the same with both players being excellent judges of where their off-stumps are and leaving the ball well, forcing the bowlers to adjust to a straighter line where they can be worked through the favoured leg-side. It's a method of batting that has served Alastair Cook for over a decade of Test match cricket and led to him becoming England's all-time leading run scorer.
What we also see with Burns is another case of resistance to empirical evidence, as I noted in my last post. As shown above from a pure numbers basis there seems little doubt that Burns should at least have been given more careful consideration and recognition in England's performance related squads earlier than he has. I'm reminded again of the Moneyball movie where Billie Bean signs a left-arm pitcher who has great stats but a strange technique which meant that other major league sides had been unwilling to sign him. When you consider that England have given players like James Vince extended opportunities in the side but not even glanced twice at Rory Burns it does make you wonder whether the selection process is flawed. Vince always looks a million dollars with bat in hand. He doesn't play scratchy innings, he plays glorious cover drives and clips through the leg side which make cricket enthusiasts purr with delight. I believe he is a genuine talent but needless to say his Test career to date has seen more style than substance. At 27, Burns knows his game and his captaincy of the Surrey team shows him to be a calm and mature character.
Good things come to those who wait Rory........
💩💩💩 NB - One interesting thing I noticed when researching this article is that almost all other news agencies who have written about Burns in the last few months have incorrectly reported his recent record. Most state that Burns has scored 1000+ first class runs in each of his last 4 seasons. This is not correct, he scored 950 first class runs in 2014. The error I would suggest has originated from his cricinfo profile here and been re-hashed by lazy journalists and news agencies unwilling to actually look a little closer at the stats that can be found here! 💩💩💩
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