Rory Burns is bracing himself for the inevitable television scrutiny that his homespun technique will attract at international level as England’s attention switches to the three-Test series in Sri Lanka and life after Alastair Cook.
Surrey’s title-winning captain and opener was among the Test players who trained at the Nondescripts club on Sunday, the morning after a 30-run victory in the one-off Twenty20 brought the curtain down on the white-ball leg of the tour. Following Cook’s retirement in the summer it felt like the start of a new era too.
Five successive summers of plundering 1,000-plus first-class runs made it impossible for Burns to be ignored for this tour and, though he is yet to learn if he will play the first of two two-day warm-ups on Tuesday – Keaton Jennings and Joe Denly are the other options at opener – surely a Test debut beckons on 6 November at Galle.
In the case of Burns it will be an eye-catching one regardless of how he goes, given a trigger movement at the crease that, from a crouched, backside-out base includes a last-second glance to midwicket and a backlift that flaps in slightly exaggerated fashion.
This quirky set-up came about for the 28-year-old as a way of accommodating the left-eye dominance of his vision while loosening his body and grip in particular. And, it must be said, all this results in pretty orthodox shots at the point of contact with the ball.
Nevertheless, modern players have found that one of the biggest adjustments when stepping up to international level is adjusting to broadcasters and pundits analysing their games. Burns, speaking after a long session in the nets working with the batting coach, Mark Ramprakash, accepts it will come his way.
“I don’t think you can prepare for it fully,” Burns said. “I am expecting a certain level of media scrutiny but I’ll just try to be strong between my ears and go about my business as I have for Surrey. Probably the weight of runs I’ve scored in county cricket will help me do that, as I’ve got that little bit of self-belief.”
On the glance to the right, he said: “It might get commented upon but it’s not going to change. It’s just one of my nuances. [Overall] it’s a rhythm thing. I’m maybe a bit more squat than most but I’d say I’m fairly orthodox.”
Burns fancies a contributing factor to his hungry form in 2018 – he topped Division One with 1,359 runs at an average of 67 – was the responsibility of captaincy. In his own words, it has become a case of thinking about others “instead of stewing about getting nicked off at 11.03 on a Thursday morning”.
In this regard, and with Cook departed, Burns may prove a handy resource for Joe Root. One has to go back to Perth in 1995 – the final Test in the careers of Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting – for the last time England had a title-winning captain in the ranks (even if Root lifted the trophy for Yorkshire in 2014 when Andrew Gale was banned).
Asked if, as a newcomer, he would feel confident approaching Root with suggestions, Burns replied: “Potentially. As a captain I’m pretty open in terms of people coming up to me but at the same time I don’t want it to become an overbearing thing. If I do get the opportunity to play and Joe does ask me what I think, or I feel I could add something, I probably won’t be backwards in going forwards to help him.”
On his first visit to the subcontinent – pre-season trips to the United Arab Emirates are his only previous Asian experiences – Burns has sought out some tips of his own, having already dined with his former Surrey teammate, the legendary Kumar Sangakarra, since arriving on tour last week.
“I think he might be working as a double agent these days. I’m not sure if he has his Surrey hat on or his Sri Lanka hat on,” Burns said, jokingly. “It was an interesting conversation and it’s nice to have a sounding board in Kumar, who knows these conditions pretty well.
“His three years at Surrey you couldn’t help but learn from watching him. The amount of balls he hit, how he hit them, what he was trying to do, conversations off the field. He imparted a lot of wisdom, not only on me but the whole Surrey group.”
As Sangakkara may have explained, Sri Lanka is the home of unorthodoxy, something highlighted on Saturday night when Kamindu Mendis sent down his first two balls in international cricket with different arms. Burns, a form-rich batsman but one whose approach is certainly unique, should hopefully fit in well.
