Alex Lees hopeful ‘Yorkshire stubbornness’ helps cement England Test place

As a youngster Alex Lees was likened to Australian great Matthew Hayden, but the England opener believes it is his “Yorkshire stubbornness” that can help him cement a Test career.

The Durham left-hander was a highly-rated, hard-hitting prospect at Headingley when Jason Gillespie dubbed him ‘Haydos’, the nickname of his former Baggy Greens team-mate who slugged his way to 30 Test centuries.

That early comparison may be a surprise to England fans, who have seen a more conservative Lees over the course of his first four international outings.

He has a top score of 31 from eight innings, making his runs at a sedate strike-rate of 30.05, but there were hints of his old ways in the final innings of the first Test win when he peeled off four well-struck boundaries on his way to 20.

His dismissal left much still to be done but he found himself praised by captain Ben Stokes and centurion Joe Root ahead of this week’s follow-up at Trent Bridge.

The 29-year-old knows he will soon need a significant score to shore up his position, but feels confident in his game having balanced the boldness of his younger days with a dose of pragmatism.

“Last week was probably the most fluent innings I’ve had to date, I was pleased in the manner I played but the obvious thing is that I have to take that and turn it into a substantial innings,” he said.

“To be praised for a 20 is probably bittersweet. If you can get a good 20, you know you can probably make 60, 70, 80. I keep getting in and out which is frustrating.

“When you open the batting you face the best bowlers, sometimes at the worst times. To get through a spell or get through a tough day of cricket is something that I’ve always quite enjoyed…it’s that old Yorkshire stubbornness.

“There’s