England’s opening pair in Test cricket has been a real challenge and believe this or not but somehow they have failed to make a mark albeit the team’s resurgence in the longest format of the game. One of the primary targets to have been at the receiving end of all of this is none other than Zak Crawley. Somehow his technique has been vehemently questioned, considering the fact that he has often lacked the sting to come forth and deliver when his team needed him and now that the Ashes are on the horizon, England is starting to get the microscope out.
The man himself however believes that he has been too unkind to himself. In the process of getting himself in the thick of things, he has somehow let the pressure get to him. He has somehow been crippled with the thoughts of trying to go too hard in the nets and the results have been shocking. In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Crawley said that he just needs to reel the entire story and get himself in the right headspace to deliver the required numbers.
Zak Crawley highlights the pros and cons of the opening slot
Crawley said, “It gets talked about like it’s very easy, opening the batting, which makes me smile. I take it in my stride and try to score runs every time I go out to bat. I have got a good defensive technique. When you are playing against the best sides in the world it might look like it’s not. It’s not something I need to work on. It’s something I need to keep backing. The same as my aggressive game.”
He further added, “It’s nice when people back you and think you’re a good player. I’ve had a lot of support from a lot of people about my game but, most importantly, you’ve got to back yourself or it’s not going to work.”
Zak continued, “I certainly do. It hasn’t gone perfectly the last year but I’ve had some good knocks. I’ve got two hundreds last year [against West Indies in March and Pakistan in December]. I was in the top 10 run-scorers. But that probably wasn’t portrayed in how I was spoken about in the press. But there’s ups and downs in anyone’s career, and especially opening the batting, and I back myself and keep batting every time.”
Here is what has bothered Zak Crawley about the slightest of mistakes
Talking about a potential mistake, he said, “I feel like I’ve made the mistake of taking it too far at times and so have some of the other batsman. The thing that England are doing so well batting-wise, in terms of Brook at the moment and Joe [Root], they’re very smart about it, how aggressive they are.”
He eventually drew a quick comparison with others, adding, “But they’re not seeing the work that they do between those periods of aggression, where they’re seeing out good spells. That doesn’t get talked about, but that’s where the balance is key and that’s where you feel your best.”
He concluded by saying, “Everyone concentrates on their own game, I concentrate on my own game. We all chat cricket but I’m not going to score any runs trying to bat like Harry Brook or trying to bat like Joe Root. The only way I’m going to score runs is to bat how I’ve done at my best throughout my career, and that’s what I try and do.”
