A young and classy right-handed batsman, Zak Crawley initiated as a middle-order batsman when he began his journey at Kent in 2018. However, he soon found himself opening the batting and an impressive 2018-19 season has seen him go up the pecking order drastically. So, much so that England picked him as one of the backup openers for their tour of New Zealand in late 2019. Unlike many of the Test batsmen who played till the Ashes series, Crawley has the ability to score quickly and possesses a rich amount of timing. Crawley was Kent’s leading run-scorer during the 2018-19 County season with over 800 runs to his name, batting on some tricky surfaces against quality attacks. He loves to play the ball late and is quite strong off the back foot.

Crawley made his debut in that 2019 New Zealand tour but announced his arrival when he scored 267 against Pakistan at Southampton. That innings was supposed to be the start of a flourishing career but the big scores were far and few which in turned made it difficult for him to cement a place in the Test XI. However, change in personnel; Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum as head coach, gave Crawley a long rope and persisted with him. He has adapted to the Bazball mantra and been instrumental in giving England quick starts.

Zak Crawley’s first major assignment as a ‘Bazball’ opener came away to Pakistan, where he scored a century in the first innings and a fifty in the second as England managed to squeeze a result on a flat Rawalpindi wicket. He had a tepid rest of the tour and struggled away against New Zealand as well, but the management kept their faith in him for the 2023 home Ashes.

Crawley started the series with a cracking cover drive against Pat Cummins off the very first ball in the first Test. He was the leading run scorer for England in that series, scoring two fifties and a century. Crawley followed that up with an impressive showing away to India as well. Using his height and reach, he lunged to the pitch of the ball against spinners. He proved to be the leading run getter for England, scoring four fifties. He had a decent home summer as well, scoring a couple of fifties against West Indies as England achieved a whitewash. Crawley injured his finger in that final Test and was ruled out for the rest of the home summer.

Crawley returned for the tour to Pakistan towards the end of the year, and scored a valuable 78 in the first Test as England forced a result after Pakistan scored in excess of 500 in the first innings. He may not have been the most consistent, but his attacking nature of play fits into the brand of cricket England aim to play, thus making him an important part of the Test setup for the Three Lions.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan