Rory Burns: The World Cup has drummed up enthusiasm for cricket - it's up to us to keep the hype going

Exclusive interview: Surrey's Test specialist watched on while the white ball side conquered the world. With the Ashes now on the horizon, it's his turn

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. In a practice net at the edge of the Oval outfield, Rory Burns is on his own, doing what he loves most. Training is over, and his Surrey team-mates have long since packed up and retired to the dressing room. But Burns has stayed out there, hitting ball after ball. Five minutes becomes 15, then 30, then 45. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Cricket may be a team game. But batting - and especially opening - can be a ruthlessly lonesome business.

He’s putting in the extra hours because he knows how pivotally important the next few weeks will be. It’s almost a decade since he entered the professional game, more than two since he first swung a bat, and in a way this is what it’s all been building to: a first home Test match at Lord’s this week, followed by the two words that race through the bloodstream of every English cricketer. The Ashes.

And so Burns knows that the next couple of months - this week’s Ireland Test and the five against Australia that follow - will in many ways define his career. He played six Tests in Sri Lanka and the Caribbean over the winter: a couple of fifties, some promising starts, some irritating dismissals. But nobody talks about Alastair Cook’s indifferent 2010 series against Pakistan, or Adam Lyth’s stirring ton against New Zealand at Leeds in 2015. When you’re an English opener, the Ashes is where you make your name.

The thing is, he’s not been having the easiest of times. Over the last few seasons, Burns has forged a reputation as the most reliable runscorer in county cricket. He scored more first-class runs than anyone else in 2018. This summer, with a couple of niggling back injuries and some indifferent surfaces, has been tougher. It’s two months since he last passed 50. Surrey, the team he captains, took until the end of June to record their first Championship win. No wonder he’s trying to net himself into some form.

“Trying to peak at the right time,” he jokes as his strolls over, his marathon practice session finally at a close. “It was coming out the middle in the end...”

Part of the problem, perhaps, has been the wait. It’s more than five months since England played their last red-ball game in St Lucia, which for a Test specialist like Burns is a long time to try not to think about the Ashes. “It has been difficult at times,” he says. “As much as you try to push it to the back of your mind, do everything to make sure that it’s in your hands… ultimately, it’s not. It’s been quite a tough period.”

The dressing room Burns will return to, meanwhile, is quite different to the one he left. As England became world champions the Sunday before last, Burns was watching the last hour of the final in the pub with his Surrey teammates, having just come off the field at Trent Bridge. Now, he sees an opportunity to play his own part in English cricket’s continuing success story.

“Definitely,” he says when asked if England’s Test side can surf the wave of their one-day triumph. “Obviously Sky putting it on Channel 4, and the final being on free-to-air, has really drummed up enthusiasm for cricket. That’s for us as a game to try and capitalise on. But also us as a side: to push on and do our best in the Ashes, to keep that hype going.”

In order to do that, Burns will need to hit his straps quickly. Australia may be a wounded tiger after their crushing semi-final defeat at Edgbaston, but they remain the toughest test of all for a Test opener: pick any three out of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson. Not that Burns is the sort to keep himself up at night worrying about these sorts of things. “I don’t think I’ve faced any of them before, actually,” he says. “It’s a pretty good seam attack. I haven’t thought about it too much.”

Burns isn’t really one for stats or pitch maps, match-ups or extensive analysis. “It’s more a visual thing for me,” he says. “I like trying to have a good look at [opposition bowlers] if I can, be that on video or in the morning. Above all, though, Burns likes to focus his attentions inwards, remembering the words of his mentor and former team-mate Kumar Sangakkara: “You have to master yourself as a person before you can master your trade.”

One of his tools is a little notebook that he carries around with him, where he jots down his own thoughts and feelings on batting. “I wouldn’t call it a diary, as such,” he says. “It’s not an everyday thing. It’s just when I feel like I’ve done well, or there’s something I need to keep an eye on, I write it down. So when you’re not feeling at your best, you can reference something.

Burns is hoping to start his international summer as he means to go on (Action Images via Reuters)

“You get days when you feel like you can literally do anything with a bat in your hand. Like you can just hit every ball for four. One was those was last year against Hampshire when I got 150. I remember thinking my rhythm and movement was the best it could ever be. Sometimes, when you’re not quite hitting the ball how yo want to, you’ve got to reference those things, just to kick yourself back in. You’re only ever half an hour from kicking yourself back into rhythm.”

It’s why Burns isn’t overly worried by his recent form, or by England’s recent history of chewing up and spitting out perfectly decent openers: 14 have been tried since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, none with very much success. “It’s an exciting thing, in all honesty,” he says. “Sometimes you can get wrapped up in thinking a bit negative. ‘Oh, this guy’s done it and failed.’ Or: ‘I’ve got to try and replace Alastair Cook.’ But at the end of the day, it’s an opportunity to try and do something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

As if on cue, opener No 15 is already being queued up on the playlist this week. But for Burns, the prospect of opening a Test innings with Jason Roy is one that fills him with reassurance, not trepidation. The pair are, after all, close friends, having known each other since the age of 10. Burns was best man at Roy’s wedding, and Roy will return the favour later this year. And having watched his mate conquer the world in white-ball cricket, Burns has no doubts about his capacity to step up in the longer format.

Burns and Roy could well open together for England this summer (Getty)

“People will make comparisons with how David Warner came into Test cricket,” Burns says. “The sort of spot Jason’s in, he’s so confident at the minute, and you can see his game’s in such good order, that it’s just down to him making good decisions and responding to the ball. You’ve seen the growth of him as a batter in the last year and a half. He’s supremely confident, and it’s a great time for him to capitalise on that.”

So yes, in some ways it’s a stressful time. But then again: a first home Test, an Ashes series on the horizon, a nation riding a wave of cricketing euphoria and thirsty for the next challenge, and now the prospect of walking out to open the batting for England with your best mate. Life could certainly be worse.

“Australia vs England in Test match cricket: it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” Burns says. “I remember watching it in 2005, trying to get the aerial working to get a decent picture. When my brothers stopped playing with me, I used to throw a ball against the wall and pretend I was in amongst it. That will be nice: to do it for real, and not have to throw the tennis ball myself.”