Rob Key gives backing to England openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees

Rob Key suggested openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley will continue to be backed and insisted anyone new into the England set-up would get a similar show of faith.

Crawley has not reached 50 in any of his last 15 Test innings, with nine single-figure scores, and Lees is averaging a modest 23.58 since becoming the latest top-order batter to be parachuted into the side.

But Key recognises it has been a decade since England’s last consistently reliable combination up top and does not want to fall into old habits of being too hasty with throwing players on the scrapheap.

“We just want to make sure we’re going to give people opportunity,” said England’s director of men’s cricket on Sky Sports.

“If there’s ever a time when we have new opening batters or new players, they will know they will get the same amount of opportunity as these guys have done.

“We have spent 10 years since (Sir Andrew) Strauss and (Sir Alastair) Cook, trying to find an opening partnership and it is the toughest part of batting at the moment.

“We’ve gone backwards and forwards with all these different people, we’re going to give them a proper go.”

Crawley showed some resolve and fighting spirit in testing circumstances against South Africa earlier this week, contributing 38 off 101 deliveries but more importantly, building a foundation for those below him, with twin tons from Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes putting England into a commanding position.

“There are not many people queuing up to bat at the top of order, they all want to bat four, five or six,” added Key. “The knock that (Crawley) played would have allowed the middle order to play the way they did.”

Key is on the panel of a wide-ranging high-performance review into the men’s game, led by Strauss, who