Dom Sibley withdraws from England Lions squad to focus on batting at home

He has been replaced by Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, who enjoyed a breakthrough campaign across all formats

Dom Sibley has withdrawn from the England Lions squad that is due to tour Australia this winter.

The opener, who was omitted from the revamped central contract list announced earlier this month, has instead decided to work on his batting at home in a bid to regain his place at the top of the order for the national side.

He has been replaced by Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, who enjoyed a breakthrough campaign across all formats.

Sibley, who has two Test hundreds, was cast aside by England after making low scores in both innings of a final-day defeat against India at Lord’s. He had come under increasing pressure for his style of play, often occupying the crease for long periods but scoring at a rate that many felt put pressure on his partner at the other end.

When Chris Silverwood took over as England coach, he had spoken of the importance of building a significant first-innings total, praising Sibley for “batting long” after facing 253 balls in a day for 86 runs against West Indies at Emirates Old Trafford in 2020.

“He concentrates very well and is willing to bat for long periods,” he said then, “and that’s what we needed at the top. To bolster the top order so the middle order can come in and the bowlers are a bit more tired.”

^{Sibley, who dominated county cricket in 2019 to earn his England chance, returned to Warwickshire after being left out by England to help them win the County Championship}

When he was left out a year later and replaced at the top of the innings by Haseeb Hameed for England’s win at Headingley, Silverwood explained: “Dom needs some time away to regain his confidence after a challenging period.

“He will return to Warwickshire to spend time in the middle without the scrutiny and find some rhythm and confidence. Dom offers a lot of value to the Test environment and some time away should help him. However, he remains part of our plans.”

His county return brought six scores between 45 and 57 in just nine innings as Warwickshire won the County Championship.

“I have struggled personally this year and the whole year has been difficult for me,” said Sibley after the confirmation of their title triumph, “so when I came back into the Bears group, I just wanted to contribute.

“When I was left out by England, Tim Bresnan sent me a message saying he knows how difficult it is to be dropped by England but telling me to come back strong because we had a championship to win. That really motivated me.”

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