Zak Crawley was unable to bat in the final innings of the England Test series against West Indies after sustaining a finger injury while fielding earlier in the day.
With less than a month until England play their next Test match against Sri Lanka, if Crawley does have a fracture in his finger it will be a race against time for it to heal in time for him to play. In that case, England will need to find another option to open the batting alongside Ben Duckett. There are plenty of options at England's disposal.
Options from inside the squad
Ben Stokes stepped up to the opener spot at short notice for the fourth innings at Edgbaston. He delivered in style, whacking England's fastest men's Test match fifty and ensuring England chased down the 82 runs needed in 7.2 overs. It would be a mouthwatering prospect for Stokes to open the batting more often. As fast-scoring and entertaining as the Crawley-Duckett partnership is, getting more of Stokes facing up to a hard Dukes in the English summer sun would be potentially devastating. It would also mean England could slot another batter into their middle order. However, with Stokes' workload increasing once more with the ball, that would also have to be factored into the decision.
Dan Lawrence has been the de-facto spare batter for England across multiple tours now, but hasn't played a Test match since 2022. He made a success of his move to Surrey in the County Championship in the early part of the summer, averaging 53.09 at a strike rate of 74.68 with two centuries and three fifties, oscillating between batting in the middle-order and at three. Lawrence would be the obvious option to come into the side as the official next man in. The question will be whether he's best suited in the middle order with someone else moving up to open, or whether England want a specialist opener at the top. He was touted as a potential emergency opener ahead of England's 2022 tour of the West Indies, but the less said about that series the better.
Harry Brook has previously stated his willingness to open the batting in Tests. He's another who would allow a fresh middle-order batter to come in, and would take away the need for a specialist option to be catapulted into the squad. Having scored a century at Trent Bridge and a fifty at Lord's, whether England want to disrupt Brook following only three Tests back into the side after missing the India tour will be something to consider.
The tried-and-test county openers
There are two standout specialist openers from the county circuit, who each opened on the England Lions tour of India during the winter. Alex Lees is the option with the most recent experience who could be recalled to the Test side to replace Crawley. Lees opened for England in their first Bazball spree in summer 2022. He partnered Crawley at the top of the order and made 453 runs across 10 Tests. Despite flashes of promise in two half-centuries, he was dropped for the winter. Since then, Lees has been in blistering form for Durham. He was the leading-run scorer in Durham's promotion-winning campaign last year, scoring 1,347 runs across the season, most importantly at a strike rate of 73.76. While his returns haven't been as impressive this season, he's still one of the front-running specialist options. He also scored a One Day Cup century last week (July 24).
The other option is Keaton Jennings, who last featured in an England squad for their series in Pakistan in 2022. Jennings hasn't played a Test match since 2019, but the volume of runs he consistently scores in the County Championship has kept him in the conversation. He's scored 854 runs at an average of 65.69 this year, and scored a One Day Cup hundred on his last outing (July 28). While he's possibly not in the mould Stokes and McCullum naturally opt for, his first-class strike rate has on average improved from when he was last in England's XI.
The white-ball powerplay blastes
There are a couple of wildcard options England may choose instead. Having left Jonny Bairstow out in favour of Jamie Smith for the West Indies series, Crawley's injuries could offer a way back for him if they prioritise power at the top. Bairstow has batted more than once in every position in England's Test side from three to seven, but has never opened in a Test.
Phil Salt has also been mentioned as a potential England Test player, and has expressed his desire to translate his white-ball success across formats. Although Salt is mainly known for his white ball exploits, her has been pretty successful in the first-class cricket he's played. He's played 14 first-class matches since 2022, over which time he averages more than 40. Rob Key also insisted the door was still open to Salt as a Test player earlier in the summer, albeit more likely as a wicket-keeper batting in the lower middle order.
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