Alastair Cook, the England batting legend opened up on the England opener Zak Crawley’s struggles in detail. England registered an emphatic five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first Test of the series, but had a frustrating start to the second game, conceding 553 in the first innings.
Daryl Mitchell (190) and Tom Blundell (106) slammed centuries for New Zealand to take the visitors to a strong score after England skipper Ben Stokes opted to bowl at Trent Bridge. The English team did end strongly at 90/1 on Day 2 but endured an early setback in form of opener Zak Crawley who departed on 4.
Alastair Cook Opened Up On Zak Crawley’s Poor Run
Zak Crawley endured disappointing outings in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand so far, registering scores of 43 and 9 in the first Test at Lord’s. Following his dismissal in the Trent Bridge Test, former England captain and batting legend Alastair Cook opened up on Zak Crawley’s poor run.
“I think a lot of it must be down to Crawley’s judgment on and around the off-stump. Better judgment when leaving the ball better would help,” Alastair Cook said.
“But it’s hard when one of your main scoring shots is also one of your main weaknesses. That’s a hard conundrum to get over,” Alastair Cook said.
Zak Crawley’s Test match career has been a case of feast or famine so far, with the England opener going big for a stunning double century against Pakistan in 2020 and a brilliant hundred against the West Indies in March. However, there was a litany of single-figure scores in between those two innings and five in his seven innings since that ton in Antigua.
Zak Crawley has found himself largely getting out on the drive, either caught behind or in the slips and he was once again out caught behind for a single-figure score in England’s first innings in the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. It was a brilliant delivery by Trent Boult, but an all too familiar dismissal for Zak Crawley, who now averages just 27.87 in 23 Tests.
Alastair Cook: Zak Crawley’s Early Front Foot Drive Is A High-Risk Shot
Talking about Zak Crawley’s inclination towards the front-foot drive, Alastair Cook said that it is a hard balance for the England batter – especially during the initial phase of the innings.
“A front-foot drive in Test cricket early on in your innings is a high-risk shot no matter who you’re playing and certainly in England it is. But when he scores so many runs with it, it becomes a really hard balance to get,” said Alastair Cook, who holds the record for most Test runs for the country.
At the end of Day 2, Ollie Pope remained unbeaten on 51 off 74 balls while opener Alex Lees played 77 balls for his unbeaten 34. Trent Boult took the wicket of Zak Crawley in the second over of the innings.
It was a huge total from New Zealand in their first innings with Daryll Mitchell’s brilliant 190 and a hundred from Tom Blundell taking them to 553 – their highest score on English soil. In response, England has made a good start. They lost Zak Crawley very early, but Alex Lees and Ollie Pope have taken them to the close without further damage, helped by Daryll Mitchell who returned the favour with a couple of dropped catches.
Stumps England 90 for 1 (Pope 51*, Lees 34*) trail New Zealand 553 (Mitchell 190, Blundell 106) by 463 runs