OPENER Haseeb Hameed is making a "very strong case' for himself to earn a recall for the second Test against India at Lord's, England head coach Chris Silverwood has said.
The 24-year-old made a great start to his Test career - by averaging 43.80 in three matches against India in 2016 before a broken finger and slump in form at county cricket prevented his comeback to England squad.
Hameed's move to Nottinghamshire worked wonders and riding on some impressive performances, the opening batsman was recalled for the two-Test series against New Zealand. Now with the top order struggling, he stands a strong chance of finding a place for the second Test against India.
"He's been fantastic, as a person, as a bloke, he's fit in beautifully," Silverwood the media reporters.
"He works extremely hard and he's looked extremely good in the nets and playing that [County XI warm-up] game against India that he did, he put his best foot forward there and scored runs. He's putting a real strong case forward and he's a pleasure to have around with us.
"He's the type of character that we want within that group as well. I think he is making a very strong case and, at some point, we may have to make a decision and give him an opportunity.
"When that comes, we'll wait and see, but he is certainly putting his best foot forward and, in the nets, he has looked extremely good."
Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley making up the top order have not been that impressive with Silverwood being a believer in first innings runs since taking over as coach in 2019.
"We have to address the fact that, at this moment in time, we're not getting those runs," he said.
"So we have to look at the why and the how really. A to B is to get big first innings runs to then put pressure on the opposition, how they get there? They've got to use their skills to do that. The questions have been posed to them, bring some ideas, 'how do we best help you do that?'
"The questions have been posed to the batting coaches as well, making sure we're giving them the best opportunity to be successful. But, ultimately, if it isn't working then I have to take a view of 'well, why isn't it working and how do I change that?'
"I have invested in these guys. I would rather be accused of giving somebody one too many chances than not enough, I've made that clear from the start, but at some point I will have to make a decision.
"We need to do something. Ideally, we get the guys scoring runs again and we get the confidence back in them, they get a score away but if that doesn't happen then, obviously, I have to have a look."
