What to do about Rew? England's dilemma

What to do about Rew? England's dilemmaImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, James Rew averages almost 44 from his 60 first-class matchesByStephan ShemiltCricket CorrespondentPublished15 minutes ago5 CommentsThree weeks into the county season and Somerset's James Rew is making a strong case to be part of England's post-Ashes rebuild.The left-hander's 379 runs is bettered only by Jamie Smith, albeit that Rew has played a game more than most.In his five innings, Rew has passed 50 four times. A century in the opening match of the season against Nottinghamshire took him to 12 first-class hundreds at the age of 22. That is as many as England's Zak Crawley has in his entire career.The Crawley comparison is apt, because it is the opener's place in the England batting line-up that appears to be most vulnerable.But Rew is not an opener, leaving England with a dilemma on how to fit him in for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on 4 June, if they choose to at all.Opening upThis would be the most straightforward approach. The vacancy is likely to be at the top of the order, so the replacement goes in as the no-frills option.Here's the snag. In his 60 first-class matches, Rew is yet to open the batting. The highest he has batted is number three - the century against Notts two weeks ago came at first drop. He has had four goes at opening the batting in List A cricket, returning a century and another score of 96.The Australians often talk about picking the best players first, then worrying about the order later. England could copy that approach and have thought about Rew as an option to open by asking Somerset for him to do the job in the Championship.Despite the Cidermen struggling to find a settled opening pair, Rew has not been tried, partly because of his workload as a wicketkeeper.Nevertheless, Somerset coach Jason Kerr has said Rew "absolutely" could open for England and those close to Rew speak of a player with...