England’s Tom Westley knows he has to perform well in the England middle-order. (Source: Reuters)
England batsman Tom Westley has had a decent outing in the limited opportunities that he has had so far. Tom Westley’s performance in the middle order drew admiration and applause from former cricketers, as ex-England captain, Nasser Hussain even went on to compare him with Michael Vaughan. In a recent interview, Westley spoke about he has figured out his role in the side and intends to score hundreds for his side.
Speaking to espncricinfo, Westley said, “I score consistently through the leg side so that’s not something I’m too concerned about. That’s the way I play. But I just thinking making that step up, and Cooky and Rooty showed it in the last game, that’s when you get in you have to make it count. I’ve got a start in a few of my innings and that’s the difference between county cricket, where you can get to 30 or 60 and hope a score comes along, but in Test cricket the scrutiny is on you because you have to go on there and then.”
“It’s my role to score hundreds. That’s what I’m there to do at three and make match-winning contributions but I’m confident in my ability and my game plan. It’s worked for me for a number of years at Essex and hopefully I can implement it at Test level.”
“I spoke to Fletch yesterday. I speak to him a lot. It’s the same advice. Keep it simple. Try to implement what you’ve done at Essex. I spoke to him briefly yesterday about a few things I try to tick off. I’ve done it from a young age. For instance a big thing for me is my balance so I was disappointed to be lbw in the last game because the leg side is a massive strength of mine and it was disappointing to get out that way. I may get out lb several times a year but generally I score a large volume of runs through the leg side. Everybody has their check list before a Test and a big thing for me is my balance. Then everything takes care of itself.”
“I’ve seen it first hand with other people at Essex and with Cooky, there is not point competing with him, he is the leading run-scorer for England of all time, so it was more important that they laid a platform for England to win and that is what happened. If I play this next game and get a good start and kick on then my time will come as it will for other players in the changing room. That is my philosophy.”
