New England prospect James Rew played an aggressive cameo against Sussex in Somerset's County Championship fixture at Taunton today (May 16), in his first match since being added to England's squad for their Test against Zimbabwe.
Batting in a new position at No.4 as opposed to his regular keeping spot at No.6, Rew came to the crease shortly before Lunch when Somerset were 79-2. Adding extra impetus to their innings, he struck a brisk 46 which included eight fours, and was eying a second consecutive 50-plus score following his century against Essex before he was dismissed by Jack Carson.
Rew's innings came at almost a run a ball, an increase on his normal batting tempo. The 21-year-old has characterised himself as an archetypal red-ball player, telling Wisden.com in an interview last month: “I generally do take quite a while to get in. I'm a slow starter, that's generally how I play and I don't think it's going to be easy for me to change that.”
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The philosophy he adopted today, however, was one of counter attack, and he kept up his run-a-ball pace throughout his innings. He scored 13 runs off the first 13 balls he faced, and kept Somerset's run rate at around 3.5 per over, while Tom Lammonby plugged away for 60 off 141 at the other end.
While it's not Rew's normal approach, he did play a similar innings at Hove last month, when scored 80 off 83 balls amidst a Somerset collapse.
Having broken several records in his early career, becoming the youngest English batter since Denis Compton to score 10 first-class centuries only a couple of weeks ago, Rew now finds himself in line for higher honours. He was called up to England's Test squad to face Zimbabwe last week, with an injury to Jordan Cox leaving room for Rew to come into the group. While he is unlikely to play, his status as a reserve underlined by the fact that he was the only member of the Test squad released for the County Championship this week, his innings showed that, if he is required, he has what it takes to adopt the requisite approach favoured by England's management.
The Test match against Zimbabwe will begin next week at Trent Bridge.
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