LAWRENCE BOOTH: Zak Crawley has been a triumph in this Ashes series

Zak Crawley’s Ashes story has been remarkable… He tops the series’ run charts after a tone-setting 73 at the Oval and has scored quicker than anyone

• Zak Crawley again hit the first ball of England’s innings for four on Saturday
• He went on to make a tone-setting 73 at an impressive strike rate of 96
• The England opener is now the highest scorer on either side in the Ashes 

Not for the first time in his career, Zak Crawley edged a big drive to second slip, turned on his heel and headed for the pavilion. The difference now was that he was walking off as the leading run-scorer in these remarkable Ashes.

Usman Khawaja may yet overhaul him, though he’s faced more than twice as many balls. Regardless, the past few weeks have been a triumph not just for Crawley, but for his advocates – from Rob Key via Brendon McCullum to Ben Stokes.

Barely six weeks ago, Crawley’s critics regarded him as a symbol of Bazball’s worst excesses. After 34 Tests he was averaging 28, with the management insisting he wasn’t there for his consistency. To which the naysayers retorted: what exactly was he there for?

The answer has come against the best seam attack in the world, on the biggest stage, under the greatest scrutiny. These aren’t Crawley’s Ashes, because England can do no better than draw the series. But since 1985, only Ian Bell – with 562 runs a decade ago – has scored more heavily in a home Ashes for England than his 480.

Bell was elegance itself in the summer of 2013, late-cutting Australia’s bowlers to distraction on his way to three centuries. But, on the eye-candyometer, Crawley has not been far behind.

Zak Crawley crunches the first ball of England’s second innings for four on Friday

He leads the run charts for the Ashes and has scored at an impressive strike rate of 89

His quickfire 73 on day three of the final Test set the tone as England built a substantial lead

As he lined up to face yesterday’s first delivery, the game and the series were in the balance. But Bazball doesn’t do fretting. And if the claim that McCullum has banished the fear of failure has become a cliché, then clichés also contain truth.

Mitchell Starc was bowling this time, not Pat Cummins, but just as he did on the long-ago first morning at Edgbaston, Crawley eased the first ball through the covers. England were up and running.

Once Ben Duckett had fallen for 42 in a rapid opening stand of 79, Crawley moved through the gears. He swept Todd Murphy for four, pulled Starc for another, then swept Murphy for two more in two balls. At lunch, England had 130 for one – 76 more than Australia had managed in the morning session 24 hours earlier.

Much of the talk in this series has been about how there is more than one way to skin a cat. Witness both teams’ first innings here: England faced 54.4 overs in scoring 283, Australia 103.1 in making 295.

But as Crawley set his team on their way to another big total made at punishing speed, it felt as if England’s relentlessness had ground Australia down.

Their big three quicks – Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood – have all cost between four and five an over. Scott Boland, meanwhile, was dropped after Headingley with two wickets at 115 each, and may never be seen again.

He now has 480 runs in the series, the second best tally for an English batter in a home Ashes series since 1985

Crawley did eventually edge a booming drive to second slip, where Steve Smith took a good catch

There have been many compelling stories this summer, and Crawley’s is among the best

Crawley has been at the heart of Australia’s collective disintegration. After scoring 33 and 44, both briskly, in the win at Headingley, he led the cavalry charge at Old Trafford, battering 189 off 182 balls in a total of 592, their highest in a home Ashes Test for 38 years.

Two days of rain denied England the victory Crawley’s innings deserved, and meant Australia’s Ashes-retaining celebrations were soggy and muted.

Here at The Oval, he fell for 73 in the second over after lunch, edging Cummins to Steve Smith. But, from 76 balls, the innings reinforced his status as the series’ fastest scorer.

In all, his 480 runs have come at almost 89 per 100 balls, well clear of any other member of the top seven on either side, and a rate that would once have illuminated a one-day international. There have been many compelling stories this summer, and Crawley’s is among the best.

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