Zak Crawley hopes for turnaround at Old Trafford

New Indian Express

18-07-2025

Zak Crawley reaches out to catch the ball at practice with teammate Ben Duckett
PTI
Cricket
Zak Crawley hopes for turnaround at Old Trafford
England opener has had a rough run but expect him to keep his place in Manchester Test
Firoz Mirza
MANCHESTER: THERE was a time in the not so distant past when Zak Crawley epitomised Bazball. He didn't need to be persuaded to play a certain way for he used to bring with him a lot of positive vibes even before Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had joined hands. It's why he knew his place was secure despite returns of 43, 9, 4, 0, 6, 25, 9 and 46 under the new regime's first four Tests. A year later, in the Summer of 2023, the opener showed why. He opened The Ashes with a roaring on-the-up cover drive off Pat Cummins. He later said that was always his plan; hit the first ball of the series for a boundary. He followed a tone-setting 61 off 73 with a rip-roaring 182-ball 189 in Manchester a few Tests later.
That, though, remains the apogee of the opener's Test career. As the ongoing five-match series shifts to Manchester, the onus will be on the England opener to find his hands. On the evidence of the last month, though, he may not. The time-delaying tactics he adopted on Day 3 of the third Test at Lord's meant Crawley was all over the pages of almost all newspapers both in India and England.
Except that showdown with the Indian team and his 65 in the second innings of the first match in Headingley, the right-hand batter has disappointed.Despite the mediocre show in the six innings, the 27-year-old from Kent was retained in England squad for the next match announced recently. In fact, since the beginning of the second World Test Championship cycle, Crawley has performed below-par with the willow.
And if one takes his performance since England tour of Pakistan in October last year into account, the returns have only diminished. Since the first Test in Multan where he scored 78, Crawley has only scored one half-century, which came in Leeds against India.
More than the runs he has under his belt during this series, it's his mode of dismissals that highlight his struggles. On most of the occasions, he attempted to drive without reaching out to the ball offering chances to fielders positioned behind the wickets. After scoring 65 and adding 188 for the opening wicket with Ben Duckett that laid the foundation for England's famous win in Leeds, Crawley tried to drive through cover without moving across a fullish ball from Prasidh Krishna only to edge it which was pouched at slip by KL Rahul.
In the next match, once again he attempted a late push away from his body only to induce a thick edge which went straight to Nair at first slip. His horrendous show continued in the next essay as a loose drive went straight to backward point with Crawley getting out for a nought. Crawley was struck at the crease in the first innings of the Lord's Test. A length ball from Nitish Kumar Reddy swung late and straightened off the pitch. The batter could only get an outside edge as Rishabh Pant held the catch. In the next innings, Crawley once again went for an expansive drive away from the body and the thick edge flew to the gully where Yashasvi Jaiswal was positioned. Once again, he fell victim to Reddy.
Former England great Geoffrey Boycott was highly critical for Crawley and the management for backing him. "I don't think he can change or get better. Batting is in the head and the brain dictates how you approach batting: what shots you attempt, what balls you leave. His faults in technique and thinking are ingrained," Boycott wrote in his column for British daily The Telegraph.
However, this England management is not one to be influenced by things said on the outside. Their style, predominantly built on a secure dressing room and unabashed backing of players, is such that Crawley knows what is expected of him. As thing stand, it seems unlikely. The only thing Crawley and England would be hoping for is that the opener will turn things around and have an impactful outing next week.