Ask George | "Are England doing a disservice to Dan Lawrence by making him open?"

ask George is brought to you by international cricket tours international cricket tours are experts at Cricket but Experts of international travel with Decades of experience behind them if you love Cricket if you love touring use international cricket tours hello Hugh turville here editor of the cricketer magazine and I have with me George deell the chief correspondent of the cricketer and Mark Macho who is an expert on Sri Lankan cricket and we are here for the first day of the second test between England SRI LAN Lords and it's AR [Music] George got 30 seconds left I here we go here we go uh old friend of ours Accidental Tourist asks when can we expect to see white smoke coming from the chimneys at Lords announcing the selection of a new pope I think they're going to stick with him a bit longer I like what you did there with the question but um look I think they really believe in him and his long-term average at three is actually good it's about 40 I'm worried about him at three not conin that he is in the right place I also don't think the messaging from the management over a long period of time has been at all helpful to him and to other players as well um they're going to give him a really concerted go at that position but you know there are very good young players out there people like Jordan Cox who who are going to be pushing hard and um yeah Oly Pope's going to have a few more Innings a few more tests certainly perhaps the whole winter to prove himself I I think he was a big reason why shanka chose to have a bowl this morning cuz I thought they they thought we can get into his head um get get into the openers early get him in early and then get him out early which is kind of what happened they did to be fair yeah um and then it kind of just feels slightly chaotic again and then we you know this is the first question at the end of the day's play right because the place is full with black smoke cuz no one's sure about him at the moment yeah I the captaincy falling unexpectedly on his lap doesn't seem to have Pro it's not that unexpected though in a way you are always one one twisted ankle away aren't yeah if you're if you're named Vice Captain and the captain is Ben Stokes who obviously has some injury issues and it's amazing he's played as much as he has it's only his own determination really so it's kind of going to happen and I think they did all these things to try and build him up to try and give him show that he was valued and that they have confidence in him and I think it might have backfired okay I don't think he's a number three uh but look the the jury is out I mean I was in hydrabad he did play a magnificent Innings he is averaging 40 in the position over a long period of time but in the last year or so that average is dropped to something like 31 and he started the test sum with 100 against West Indies it's important West Indies yep y so um it's not I think an argument that you can just statistically nail one way or the other but I'm worried about how frenetic his starts are can I for a second question I just adjust your shirt like bit too much chest here being shown there right jack R asks rout or Gara who is the Better Batter then um I'm actually going to go cuz obviously this is something I was thinking about during the during play it imag going go root only because second car is absolutely brilliant and amazing and incredible but I think root was born for this with s had to learn it so s ends up being a very different batter to the one that I started with which is an incredible journey that we all loved going on but Ru was just Bor to play test Cricket wasn't it wow can't believe the dis loyalty it's not that um I don't think I can answer it's a bit Sophie's Choice isn't it I suppose she did answer uh but I'm not going to a rubbish film would it a no I want another option Tang car kept as well of course yeah yeah okay you want to move on to the next so would you answer Root's going to be the greatest of all time isn't he think not great Brad is he no I suppose he not most prolific of all time how much you have to consider the the era of test Cricket that he's playing in I mean it's not a particularly Great era for bowlers is it and how many marked his rout loose will keep playing these silly shots reverse sweeps and things I don't know but the fact that you're having the conversation comparing them shows they're both yeah they're both absolutely top guys both awesome right okay kjan asks shouldn't Joe Joe Roots runs be inflation adjusted compared to tough Bowlers and teams in tindol cazer that's what you were getting at Mark wasn't it oh yeah yeah I'm sure there's some clever people out there working with statistical model kind of work that but then you know Cricket changes and evolved so much over the years you can't some days some Bowers wake up and they're just about to have the best day out of their lives right you can't how do you filter that into statistical mon CU Sri Lanka had vas and Murley and easy score runs against him now isn't it yeah here's the point that uh Sachin played in a more tricky era cuz he did he played against some incredibly tough bowling attacks but then he would have played on some flat wickets at times again you don't need to decide you can thoroughly respect that intend jeru without demeaning the other one yeah well it's good for them to discuss these things isn't it right Andy moouse asks there appeared more empty seats than any recent they one of a test here should the ECB be worried or is this still a good crowd for late August non Ash's test for the record the crowd was about 27,000 I think I think you could have a bit of both you know it is a good crowd for what um it's a good crowd but there are a few signs of concern it could be both and um there was a test a couple of years ago you know that it didn't sell out on the first St you remember which that was um uh maybe it was New Zealand actually a couple years ago so there's no room for complacency at all it's terribly expensive and we've developed a game which is only relevant to a tiny proportion of our community so it's going to happen it's a wakeup call of course it is I think they know um we've got to all do the right things I don't know do you any thoughts I just think if you don't live in you know in in London meet by London I mean by a tube stop it's basically 250 day that he's just you know doing it kind of quite reasonably moderately I think you know this is fil well just for the tickets I mean get by the time you get here you get a bit of food uh you know it's lovely on the lawn having having a bottle of wine like why wouldn't you want to do that and I think by the time you put that all in get back you have some food afterwards it's it's a very expensive day it's almost might need a hotel and the trains are horrendous as we know I mean coming to Lords is obviously incredibly special but that doesn't mean they they need take it for granted why can't they look into Dynamic pricing sell off if they know Sri Lanka aren't going to pull in the crowd India or Pakistan or Australia off so maybe you don't sell the tickets quite as expensive as you did I spoke to a lot of shanka fans today when I was out in the B and all of them said I can only do one day it's too expensive um so it doesn't have to be tell this Richard Thompson said at the start of this summer we could sell out against I think he said the Paul but it might have been Pap you can't they cannot yeah so it's a bit of a reminder that there is a bit Hubris in English cricket and um and the fact that the the contests haven't been you know that brilliant this I think Sri Lanka have done really well so far in the series but the contests haven't been that because good have they more importantly than that as well is I think we're getting a whole generation of people coming through who would never Tak who would never be taken to Lords as a kid cuz it was too expensive they might have been taken to test outside going to cardi done you know done a day get UN in Durham or something like that but this isn't going to be a place that they think they can come to cuz they're not going to have memory but you work for lawday or no someone someone threw it threw a coffee over me so have to go buy a new shirt by someone I mean me all right um it just feels really late in the summer doesn't it and and we've had the 100 in August and football started now it's been a funny bitty Summer with the Olympics and everything God what a fantastic day I mean it's just very good weather was amazing Perfection I had the most wonderful day setting up a photo which I won't tell you what it is but you can see it in the next cricketer magazine it's fantastic what a tease yes right I'll tell you what it is shall I no it's really good it is because that will give our so-call Rivals opportunity to Trump me with the the picture so no yeah but that is a big clue Trump is a big clue for all the best news and Analysis subscribe to the award-winning cricketer for just 399 a month right uh Ron Martin asks are England doing La Dan Lawrence a dis service by asking him to open the batting well he's struggling with the role isn't he there's no doubt about that he's had three goes and he's probably got three more we it's all very well but there was no other way into the side for him but should they have gone for a specialist hope no I mean he they are making the argument he is making the argument his dismissals are making the argument that yes um it's really unfortunate for him but he's got his opportunity I think I've said in my piece it's like you know being a right back asked to play on the left isn't it it's he's not comfortable at all opening the bat in um well I mean it's difficult middle order players when ramp struggled in 2000 Jonathan shot struggled in 2015 you got Keith and Jennings making over 800 runs in division one of the championship with 400s averaging over 60 until the last game what do you have to do in the championship to get a call up and is it all just about strike rates and stuff and I looked up his strike rate is 57 is that that bad no it's really not and I wonder if they didn't want him to do well cuz then would give them a problem what to do later in in well in this cycle but um look I I I actually applaud quite a lot of what they're doing like not looking at County averages looking at attributes more instead to use a mat roller line it's attributes not averages but they are reveling in it yeah I mean you know um uh Josh Hull has a bowling average of 182.5 in the championship season there's no way that he would have been picked in previous generations it's August it's not like you know it's an incredible thing and I do think they're reving it in a way which is I don't know a bit over the top this this is a bit too clever ring the championship's face in it well they obviously don't particularly respect that and that's okay because they're right to think that oi Han and Doby getting loads of wickets for warshire uh isn't necessarily going to mean he's the ideal person to take the new Border in Australia he he'd be the first to admit that Sam Cook you know well Sam Cook I think is a bit unlucky he gets a ten for with a cooker a ball yeah he's probably the same Pace that Jimmy Anderson was in the last few years so I think Sam Cooks unlucky to be honest um I think to be fair they did say he was a bit unlucky didn't they yeah but but I they have got somebody who's not a number three at number three somebody who's not an opener as an opener and quite a long tail um I don't know they're getting away with it now or they get away with it against India and Australia we'll see it'll be fun to find out square pegs in round holes is it it is I think right finally Steven berkhamstead asks what is your view on selecting the tallest biggest fast Bowlers lot last time England selected like that Chris tremlett and Boyd Rankin didn't last the whole tour in England were beaten 5 new in 2013 I don't think they didn't last the tour cuz they were big I think they didn't last the tour cuz they were broken cuz tremblet was on the tour before when England won the ashes so the problem was that you have to pick on what you actually have rather than what you wish you had and what England wished they had there was tall Fit Fast Bowlers and what they actually have was tall unfit fast Bowlers and that's not the same thing at all and they did the same thing at Australia in 20067 they picked the players who they wanted to be fit but they're all broken that's not the same thing so I don't I think there's a lot of sense in it listen if you England's have played 15 tests since the second week of 2011 January 2011 you in Australia and they've lost 13 if they go there again trying to do all the same things they will lose again so I think they're right to try different things and I think Josh Hall is a a young bowler with quite a lot of the raw materials he isn't actually playing they're just taking a look at him I think that's probably right to be honest isn't that a case though that all over the world all fast bowling units are kind of half broken at any given time anyway I mean lar Kamar bow for shanka today the start of this day I did not think he had 20 overs in it I was going to ask you about the attack beting to see how he is in the morning it Milan rth Nike is quite tall isn't he but were you impressed overall um I've been in I was much more impressed today with him than I was an old TR and I think he's clearly improved shanka keep putting up their Bon and coach at the end of the day to talk to us and I think that talks to what they're trying to tell us is we're working on it we're on top of this we've got something the real kind of wider shame in it all is our best Bowlers out here cuz they play White bu Cricket right and they're never going to play test Cricket so you know that's why we look will a test fund help no no it's too far gone I think now um yeah because they just they're going to earn so much in the IPL that you know the the test fund what that's going to do I think potentially for for a team like or a nation likee sh Lan it's going to maybe encouraging to develop players like malan R Nika who can only play Red Bull Cricket or are only ever going to play Red Bull Cricket for the country um and maybe put more into that which they do you know sha actually have quite a sophisticated fast bowling coaching setup which has brought these so many youngsters through recently so I think that's what it will help but in terms of getting our best players back to play red bll Cricket I think that's probably a ship that's sailed well on that downbeat note we shall say good night to you and we'll be back at Lords tomorrow for day two