Zak Crawley is threatening to do what leading England coach Brendon McCullum never thought he could do: become a consistent Test opener.
“He will never be a consistent cricketer,” McCullum said shortly after taking over in 2022. “He is so dynamic that he will not be consistent. But when the day comes, he will win games.”
McCullum has spent much of his first year in charge justifying England’s persistence at Crawley despite poor averages of 10.8 in 2021; It was anathema to his team’s fans, who were often accustomed to consistent openers such as Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss. “The last two guys at the top of the rankings in this country are called ‘Sir’, so it’s not an easy thing to do,” McCullum said.
But the shape of Crawley’s output has changed, and for the better. He has averaged 52 in eight tests since the start of last summer. Only twice during this period were there fewer than 20 layoffs. Since joining Ben Duckett in December 2022, England’s opening stand has averaged 49 in 13 Tests, an unprecedented level. Quick and consistent scoring: They failed to score 40 only once in their last seven innings together. This comes from an England team that has spent the decade making 20 from two since Strauss and Cook’s partnership ended in 2012.
In Hyderabad, Joe Root was full of praise for the way they “set the tone” with “remarkable consistency”. Don’t tell Baz, Joe.
Crawley played well in Hyderabad but here he stepped up a notch or two with his 78-ball 76. He wasn’t perfect as he had a one-handed diving chance dropped at mid-wicket when he was 17, and he soon converted the ball just after leg slip. But at his best he was magnificent. Jasprit Bumrah’s single had four fours, two of which were flat-driven and the other was taken in front of square. There were two sweet innings, the first of which earned him his fifty. Just before that came Kuldeep Yadav’s defensive tackle and he went down for four.
However, Crawley failed the temperament test. India’s third spinner Axar Patel was introduced into the attack as Crawley played Kuldeep and Ravichandran Ashwin well. Crawley poked his second ball four times through mid-wicket, then tried to smash his third into the stands from long range. The ball lost its shape as it spun and was caught well behind the square offside.
On his 26th birthday, Crawley made it known what he needed to add to his game next. At 114 for one, Crawley was in control of the game and India’s 396 was starting to look modest. The pitch was still good for batting but would get worse. The game was entering ‘Bumrah territory’ with the ball a little older and the memory of his dazzling reverse-hand spell in Hyderabad fresh in the mind. Only Yashasvi Jaiswal reached 35 for India but she finished with a score of 209 which set the tone for the match. Having played so well, England needed to turn a cameo from top scorer Crawley into something more substantial. Don’t wait for someone else to do the job. After the fall of Crawley England lost 139 to nine.
Crawley’s fall brought Rohit Sharma back to life and brought Bumrah, whom he had dismissed in Hyderabad and taken seven overs in Test cricket, back to bowl at Root, making him his most common victim. In another exciting spell, he accounted for Root and Ollie Pope followed by another four wickets in the evening session. Crawley’s haste had left the door ajar and Bumrah rushed in.
When Crawley walked off the pitch, he would likely receive a pat on the back from a proud McCullum, pleased both with his progress and the fact that he no longer had to answer questions about his place in the team.
Crawley and Duckett live by the sword, and this is where he died. Rather than waiting for a ball with his name on it (as Ben Stokes later received it), he would claim to have taken the initiative and tried to score.
“If I start to doubt myself in those situations and don’t back up my instincts, I’ll revert back to the player I was a few years ago, who wasn’t scoring many points for my team,” he said. “I wasn’t happy when I got out but I would definitely have done the same thing. [again]. I was disappointed in myself, especially when wickets fell. But I’ll keep telling myself that I have to back up my aggressive play because that’s what got me here.”
There’s some sense in that, but this time Crawley took it too far. England have shown previously – in the Ashes – that just because they say “this is how I play” doesn’t mean they aren’t looking for improvements in the approach behind the scenes. Under McCullum and Stokes, Crawley are improving rapidly but still have room to mature. Consistency is coming; Now the throat will be cut.