IT’S not everyday an English batsman gets compared to Brian Lara but Dominic Sibley is keen to emphasise that his passing resemblance to the great West Indian is statistical only.
“I’m sure he scored his runs a whole lot more attractively,” he laughs. “I was too young to remember some of his earlier innings, I caught the end of him, really. I can remember watching his 400 with my dad when Batts (Gareth Batty) was playing for England against them (in 2004). Other than that, I can’t say I saw him a huge amount.”
The parallels between Lara and Warwickshire’s 23-year-old run machine, come not in playing style but in shear volume of runs.
Back in May, Sibley scored his sixth consecutive hundred for the Bears, with his unbeaten 109 against Hampshire placing him in squarely in an elite list containing, not just Lara – who achieved the feat with Warwickshire in 1994 – but also the likes Don Bradman, CB Fry and Denis Compton.
That’s not bad company to be keeping and in an Ashes year, it has seen Sibley sprint ahead of a number of his rivals should a place at the top of England’s order become available.
His name didn’t appear in the squad of 16 selected for an Ashes get-together this weekend but if injuries strike or form deserts those entrusted with opening up in cricket’s showpiece series, it’s more than possible that Sibley could be handed a chance before the summer is out.
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