Former Australian captain Mark Taylor heaped praise on England opener Zak Crawley for scoring a brilliant century in the 1st innings of the crucial fourth Test in Manchester. The 25-year-old is a rising batting star for England in test cricket providing a quick-fire start batting at the top of the order.
Coming into the game, the English opener had averaged less than 30 with the bat in 12 innings this year, with no centuries and a single half-century before this game but coming into the 1st innings on the crucial fourth test, the right-handed opener batted with great intent to score to quick to score his first century in 2023 putting the team in a comfortable position on Day 2.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Mark Taylor lauded young Zak Crawley for his phenomenal knock in the 1st innings against Australia and understands the thought process of England backing him for a longer period, and believes that he could be a special player for his team if he finds in consistency in International Cricket.
“When you see an innings like that, you tend to understand why England have backed him over some time. For a man that’s played 38 Tests and averaging 29, it is when he produces an inning like that, you stand back and say, ‘Wow.’ If he can be consistent with that, it will make him a really special player,” Mark Taylor said.
Zak Crawley was the star performer for England with the bat, as he smashed 189 runs including 21 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 103.85 to keep up the scoring rate of the team on Day 2 and the English team will look to post a massive total on Day 3 of the crucial encounter of the Ashes series.
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Ricky Ponting and Dinesh Karthik are too awe-struck by the batting exploits of the English opener in the 1st innings, as the former Australian skipper believes that is why a lot of people in English cricket rate him high in International cricket.
“Outstanding. I think a lot of people around English cricket have known what he is capable of. Yes, it has probably been a bit lean here and there, but Stokes wants to pick people with special things ahead of them, and what Crawley has produced here is very special,” Ricky Ponting said.
Dinesh Karthik feels that he has got into the heads of the Australian team as they found no answers to his counter-attacking batting in the 1st innings.
“Got inside the minds. (Australia) have been chasing him. Chasing the ball, chasing in the field. Setting different fields almost every second ball,” Dinesh Karthik said.
Zak Crawley is an integral part of England’s batting order, particularly his ability to provide quick-fire starts to their innings over the last few years. The recent blistering century helped him to break into the top run-getter in the Ashes 2023 in England.