Zak Crawley is unique: the better the bowling, the better he plays

Times

3 days ago

Familiarity can breed content for a batsman, for one should never underestimate the power of playing at a ground where success has previously been achieved. Comfort can bring easy optimism and hope, even when form has been elusive and the vultures have begun to circle.
It was at Old Trafford two years ago that Zak Crawley played his finest Test innings, 189 against Australia, a knock so good that its eventual end was met by a string of Australian legends racing to shake Crawley's hand.
Since then the going has been tough. Crawley has made only one century, and that was against Zimbabwe, but here suddenly we witnessed the Crawley into which England have poured so much faith, mostly flying in the face of convention and statistics, causing the likes of Michael Vaughan to highlight Crawley's fortune in playing 58 Tests and averaging just 31.40.
When presented with the bare numbers, it is often hard to argue the case for the Kent opener, but those within the England set-up think very differently from most of us, and instead consider contributions and impact more carefully. Even when Crawley had a moderate Test at Lord's, the inside word, apparently, was one of satisfaction that he had seen off Jasprit Bumrah twice and therefore had played a significant part in the victory.
And there is something in that. Crawley plays Bumrah very well. Indeed he plays the better and faster bowlers very well. At one stage of this innings the BBC statistician Andy Zaltzman observed that he is England's best player against bowling above 88mph, averaging 80.
The dibbly dobblers that are so prevalent in county cricket are not to his liking, with his first-class average thus very similar to his Test figure. Why is that? Simply because two of Crawley's greatest strengths are his driving on the up and his hooking and pulling, strokes that are ideally suited to Old Trafford, where the pitch may have lost some of its pace but still retains enough bounce for that purpose, as well as many of the surfaces in Australia. This means that he can score freely even when those best and fastest bowlers are bowling as they want, targeting either a good length or testing one's mettle with some bouncers.
In short Crawley can score off the good balls and does not need to wait for the bad ones. But that in itself brings its own dangers, because even the slightest lateral movement can prove fatal when a batsman is driving on the up. There were many instances of that in his 84 here, not least in the first over of the innings when he drove at Bumrah and found only fresh air. Mohammed Siraj nipped a few balls back off a length that Crawley inside-edged when on another day they might have sneaked through the gate presented by going so hard at the ball.
But in fairness Crawley worked hard at the beginning. He played out two maidens from Bumrah and when, at the end of the sixth over, England were 26 without loss, Crawley was still not off the mark.
And even when that first run did come, it came with some pain, as he gloved a lifter from Bumrah, yelping before stealing a single on the leg side. Then, when he thought he had found a first boundary to extra cover, the ball did not quite reach the fence and Crawley had to scamper back for a fourth run, diving to make it and muddying his sleeveless sweater.
Did he change that piece of clothing when he went to tea 33 not out? Of course he didn't. He might like playing at the ground but it does not mean that he can flirt frivolously with the game's reputation as a cruel mistress. Superstitions still persist, even for one as sanguine as Crawley.
Soon the booming drives through extra cover were coming, as Crawley managed his weight distribution so much better than at Lord's, where he had looked static and mechanical, with an on-driven four off Siraj just before tea a shot of some class.
India had not bowled brilliantly at England's openers, with Ricky Ponting on the television commentary rightly urging them to bowl wider at Crawley, but the pressure exerted by this partnership of different heights and scoring areas should not be overlooked. This was Crawley and Ben Duckett's fifth hundred partnership in Tests and it came in only 18.5 overs. It was some start.
When Ravindra Jadeja's left-arm spin was introduced, Crawley immediately plonked him over long-on for six and then paddle-swept him for four. A no-ball bizarrely brought his downfall, as the extra ball turned a little and Crawley, opening the face of the bat, edged low to slip.
It was a surprise, but he and Duckett had put on 166 and Crawley had, on a favourite ground, played the innings he desperately needed to quieten the doubters, if only for a short period, because he is a cricketer like no other in the history of the game; confounding, confounded, confusing, confused, charming and charmed, but, on a day like this, also coruscating.