"I was certainly braver against them, and that was on purpose" - Zak Crawley on his aggressive intent in the 2023 Ashes
England opening batter Zak Crawley reflected on fully immersing and buying into the aggressive approach advocated by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. The right-handed batter ended the Ashes as England's leading run-getter with 480 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 88.72.
He also scored the highest individual score of the 2023 Ashes after smashing 189 runs off just 182 deliveries in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. Crawley was struggling for form heading into the Ashes with a string of low scores stretching from the latter part of the Pakistan tour as well as the away series against New Zealand.
Asserting the importance of putting the Australian bowlers under pressure from the word go, Crawley said on the Vaughany and Tuffers podcast:
“I thought if I could put them under pressure a bit more, it might give me more of a chance. I was certainly braver against them, and that was on purpose. The pitches were good early in this series and thankfully it came off on a few occasions.”
Reflecting on the lack of a right game plan against different types of bowling attacks, Crawley continued:
"There have been times where I’ve felt badly out of nick in the game. I felt out of nick in New Zealand. More the mental block, that fear of failure. I didn’t have the right game plan against certain type of bowling, I couldn’t unlock that over a period of time."
Crawley showed his intent right at the start of the series by dispatching Pat Cummins' delivery for a boundary off the very first delivery at Edgbaston, Birmingham. His exploits at the top were crucial for England to draw the five-match series at 2-2 from being 0-2 down.
"There will be times I will get out early and it’ll look reckless" - Zak Crawley
There have been times when the aggressive intent has paid off, but equally, on the flip side, there have been instances where it has failed. The English batters were criticized for their poor shot selection in the Lord's Test, which they eventually went on to lose.
Admitting that his commitment to aggression may result in a reckless dismissal at times in the future, Crawley said:
“It won’t always come off, there will be times I will get out early and it’ll look reckless. But if I play like that I think I’m better off. When I put pressure on myself I feel worse. I didn’t allow myself to do that this time.”
The opening batter's next international red-ball commitment comes in the form of a tour of India in early 2024. It will be interesting to see if England continue with their intent on the unforgiving subcontinent pitches of late.
Crawley played the last two Tests in England's tour of India in 2021. He began on a promising note by scoring a fifty but only recorded 14 runs across the next three innings. He was dismissed by Axar Patel three times in succession and will be on the lookout to rectify the poor record.