Zak Crawley backed to make an Ashes impact despite a struggle for runs
Zak Crawley backed to make an Ashes impact by Ollie Pope despite a struggle for runs, with England hoping the opener can ‘set the tone’ against Australia
- Zak Crawley has averaged a modest 28 from his 34 Test matches for England
- Ollie Pope claims the Crawley has the ability to make an impact against Australia
- England have focused on matches where Crawley played a key role for the team
Ollie Pope has backed his Test team-mate Zak Crawley to come good in the Ashes because ‘his ceiling is so high’ and he can make an impact ‘in the space of a session’.
Crawley averages a moderate 28 from his 34 Tests, with three hundreds from 63 innings. But Pope, England’s vice-captain and No 3, believes ‘it’s not necessarily about stats now’.
He added: ‘The player that Zak is, he could have a tough first game, a tough first innings next game, then go and blast a hundred off a hundred balls. He’s got the ability to do that against Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon. He’s a player who can deal with 90mph bowling at his head.
‘He wouldn’t mind me saying there have been times when he hasn’t scored the weight of runs he has wanted. But there have also been times he has played some knocks that have gone under the radar.’
Since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, only two of England’s full-time Test openers have averaged over 32: Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett, who has played just eight games at the top of the order.
Zak Crawley has a moderate Test average but has been backed to impress during the Ashes
Ollie Pope says Crawley has a ‘high ceiling’ and can make an impact ‘in the space of a session’
England are focusing on the matches in which Crawley has stamped his mark on proceedings
‘Coming in after someone like Alastair Cook, there’s probably a stereotype as to that England opening spot – you need to be averaging 40 and batting this way,’ said Pope. ‘Being an opener in England is probably as hard as it gets.’
Rather than Crawley’s low scores, England prefer to focus on the matches on which he has stamped his mark. Last year alone, he formed part of England’s three fastest century opening stands – two with Alex Lees, one with Duckett.
At Old Trafford last summer, he went the other way, soaking up 101 balls for 38 against a high-class South African attack. ‘It was a slow innings, but the way he played in tough conditions set up the game so Foakesy and Stokesy could go on and get their hundreds,’ said Pope.
England coach Brendon McCullum has said more than once that Crawley isn’t being picked for his consistency – but his ability to influence a match in a couple of hours.
‘That’s the exciting thing about Zak, said Pope. ‘In the space of a session, you know he can set the tone or break the back of a run chase.’
Ollie Pope was speaking on behalf of Radox, the Official Shower Gel of England Cricket #FeelRefreshedWithRadox
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