Backing Zak Crawley to make an Ashes impact through Ollie Pope despite a battle for runs, with England hoping the opener can ‘set the tone’ against Australia
- Zak Crawley has averaged a modest 28 of his 34 Test matches for England
- Ollie Pope claims the Crawley has the ability to impress Australia
- England have focused on games where Crawley played a key role for the team
Ollie Pope has backed his Test team-mate Zak Crawley to get good at the Ashes because ‘his ceiling is so high’ and he can make an impact ‘in the space of a session’.
Crawley averages a mediocre 28 out of his 34 Tests, with three hundred out of 63 innings. But Pope, England’s vice-captain and No. 3, believes “it’s not necessarily about statistics now.”
He added: “The player that is Zak, he could have a tough first game, a tough first innings next game, and then shoot a hundred balls off a hundred balls. He has the ability to do that against Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon. He is a player who can head bowl at 90 mph.
“He wouldn’t mind if I say there have been times when he hasn’t scored the number of runs he wanted. But there have also been times when he played some tricks that went 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 league table.
Zak Crawley has a mediocre test average, but he’s been propped up 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 focuses on the games in which Crawley has made his mark
“If you come after someone like Alastair Cook, there’s probably a stereotype about that opening spot in England – you have to average 40 and hit this way,” said Pope. “Being more open in England is probably as hard as it gets.”
Instead of Crawley’s low scores, England prefer to focus on the games where he has made his mark. Last year alone, he was part of England’s three fastest opening stands – two with Alex Lees, one with Duckett.
At Old Trafford last summer, he went the other way, recording 101 balls for 38 against a first-class South African attack. “It was a slow innings, but the way he played in difficult conditions allowed Foakesy and Stokesy to go ahead and take their hundreds,” said Pope.
England coach Brendon McCullum has said on more than one occasion that Crawley is not picked for his consistency, but for his ability to influence a match in a matter of hours.
“That’s the exciting thing about Zak,” Pope said. “During a session, you know he can set the tone or break up a chase.”
Ollie Pope spoke on behalf of Radox, the official shower gel of England Cricket #FeelRefreshedWithRadox