Zak Crawley stars as England dominate day two of fourth Ashes Test

Zak Crawley smashes a brilliant 189 as England dominate day two of must-win fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford to lead by 67 runs

• Under-pressure Zak Crawley put on a thrilling 189 against Australia on day two
• Australia were handed a further blow as Mitchell Starc was forced off injured 
• Re-live all the action from Old Trafford as Crawley innings puts England on top

This is why England have always been so stubbornly determined to keep faith in Zak Crawley even when all conventional cricketing logic demanded he be dropped.

This is why they have always been adamant they would stick to their Bazball principles even in the Ashes against the best Test team in the world.

This was total vindication for Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Rob Key in their near evangelical quest to transform not only England but re-invent world Test cricket.

What a second day of this fourth Test and what a performance from the much-maligned Crawley and an England team taking their ultra-positive style to new rarefied levels.

Rarely can any England side have dominated the old enemy as totally as this on any day of any Ashes Test in any era.

Opener Zak Crawley thrilled in one of the great Ashes innings Old Trafford has ever seen

Almost every Australia player came to congratulate the Kent batter after he was finally dismissed

Joe Root (right) and Crawley put on a 200 stand as England took the game away from the visitors

And rarely can any Australian team have looked so ragged, rattled and so utterly devoid of ideas and imagination in the face of a relentless English onslaught.

Whether or not England have enough time to carve out a series levelling win over the next three days when Manchester’s weather might well be at its worst, it was conclusive proof this is the way Test cricket can both be saved and thrive in the franchise era.

By the end of an extraordinary day England had smashed 384 for four in 72 overs, a lead of 67, and Crawley had silenced for good any remaining doubts that he belongs in this England team at the very highest level.

The bare facts of Crawley’s innings tell the story. He went to 50 by reverse sweeping the first ball from Australia’s part-time spinner Travis Head for four and then slog sweeping his next for six as if to emphasise Australia’s mistake in not picking specialist Todd Murphy.

When Crawley was in the 90s he toyed with Australia when he hit a four over third man, saw the hapless Pat Cummins place a fly slip a ball too late and then crashed Mitchell Starc through the covers with a shot reminiscent of his opening ball of the series salvo.

He reached his fourth Test hundred in just 93 balls, the second fastest in Old Trafford Test history and behind only Ian Botham’s mighty 86-ball effort here in 1981, with his second 50 coming off just 26 deliveries.

And he reached the fastest 150 in any Manchester Test off just 152 balls with two glorious straight drives in successive balls off poor Cummins.

When he was eventually out for 189, playing on to Cameron Green, Crawley had smashed three sixes and 21 fours, added 206 with Joe Root for the third wicket in 29 overs, over-taken Usman Khawaja as the highest scorer in the series off fewer than half the amount of balls – and driven Australia to absolute distraction with his sublime stroke-play.

Root was dismissed by one that kept inexplicably low, bowled by Josh Hazlewood for 84

Mitchell Starc was forced from the field with a shoulder injury in a further blow to Australia

Yes, there were some anxious moments for Crawley, not least when he was given out lbw by Joel Wilson on 20 off Green only for technology to show the ball was missing. In truth it is always wise to review Wilson’s decisions and Crawley had no hesitation in doing so.

There were also a couple of inside edges for four and the odd other injudicious shot but this was an even better innings from Crawley than his 267 against Pakistan in the Covid summer of 2020 when there was no-one at the Ageas Bowl to acclaim him.

There was a full-house at Old Trafford to stand to him now and loudly and fervently acclaim him while every member of the Australian side graciously raced to congratulate Crawley as he walked off recognising a truly great innings.

it was the middle session that summed it all up. It was not only the best session of the Bazball era but quite possibly one of the best in English Test history.

England hit 178 in the session in just 25 overs, 106 of them to Crawley alone, as they rattled along at seven an over throughout the session with Australia looking rudderless, fielders everywhere waving their arms around and Cummins not knowing how to respond.

On any other day Root’s contribution would have stood out but now his 84, which included a reverse ramp for six off Mitchell Marsh and the same shot off the extra pace of Cummins for four, played very much second fiddle. Only a grubber from Josh Hazlewood was able to defeat Root, even that encouraging England that the pitch was deteriorating.

The day had started perfectly for England when Cummins, resuming the Australian innings on 299 for eight, drove the first ball to cover – can he ever have had a worse day in Test cricket? – to give Jimmy Anderson a much-needed wicket.

Chris Woakes then quickly had last man Hazlewood caught by Crawley at slip but TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena inexplicably adjudged no ball on the flimsiest of evidence.

At least it only cost England 17 runs as Woakes was able to complete his first five-wicket haul against Australia before Ben Duckett quickly departed as they replied.

Moeen Ali put on 54 coming in at No 3 as England quickly recovered after Ben Duckett went for one

England made short work of finishing off the Australian tail as Chris Woakes sealed his first five-for against the visitors

It was England’s only real low point of the day. Moeen Ali batted responsibly and then classily in his new position of No3 to go past 3,000 runs and complete the all-rounder’s Test double along with 200 Test wickets two Tests quicker than Andrew Flintoff.

And when Moeen was well caught by Khawaja for 54 after twice being missed by a distracted Cummins Crawley and Root just took England’s batting to another level.

There was to be no funky declaration this time, quite rightly, and England will look to score just as quickly this morning to try to turn this into a three innings match and bowl Australia out before the rains come.

And if they do that and set up the mother and father of all Ashes deciders at the Oval next week then it will be a quite remarkable achievement.

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