Crawley bludgeons way into Ashes folklore as England take control of fourth Test
Zak Crawley caressed his way into Ashes folklore with a sparkling hundred to put Australia to the sword and drive England towards their dream of an Oval finale.
And as the man backed most deeply and convincingly by the twin Test pioneers Ben Stokes and Baz McCullum, Crawley repaid their faith in the most emphatic way with 189 barnstorming runs to help set up their push for victory. If you had asked Alexa, Siri or Google to ‘show me Bazball’ last week there is a good chance they would have loaded a clip of Jonny Bairstow or maybe even Stokes to explain the phenomenon.
But this innings from Crawley was the epitome of what it has all been about, under huge pressure and against the very best bowlers in the game, to play with such freedom and be successful in an entertaining way. There were a few slices of luck when it came to streaky inside and outside edges, but there were also 21 fours and three sixes in Crawley’s knock, and barely any of them were struck without an echo of ‘shot!’ reverberating around the ground.
And yet for all the aesthetic beauty attached to the 25-year-old’s strokeplay, it was impactful because it did most to take his team to 384-4 and a lead of 67 by the close of day two - with the threat of serious rain over the weekend very much the stalking horse in this game.
It was the day that promised so much and delivered even more than that, thanks to the long levers of Crawley who reeled off shot after shot of classy authority, the relentless consistency of Joe Root, and the juicy hors d’oeuvres provided by Moeen Ali at No.3. Put together it was a delicious serving of Ashes pie for the full house at Old Trafford to tuck into under the hazy Manchester sunshine.
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The England batters were happy enough gorging on the open buffet of half-volleys and long-hops from the Aussies who had just about the worst day at the office across their storied careers. The lack of a specialist spinner, let alone one with the skills and experience of the injured Nathan Lyon hurt them in a big way, but it is doubtful how much even he could have done to stop this calculated yet brutal assault on their figures.
This was the very best of Bazball, where the players took the most positive action at almost every turn, but without the recklessness that was often evident in the first two matches of the series. Even Moeen was a picture of calm authority in between the sort of strokeplay that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a David Gower highlights reel.
Moeen Ali also impressed with a crucial half-century at No.3 (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)Batting like a well versed Test match No.3, Moeen put away the hook and the pull to begin with as he collected his 3,000th run on the way to his 15th half century. Only Lord Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, and Stuart Broad have managed the 3,000 runs and 200 wickets double for England before and now Moeen sits very happily in their company.
Having departed for 54, Root took up the running alongside the first Kentish man to score an Ashes hundred since Alan Knott back in 1977. And they rattled along at a frightening pace, scorching 178 from just 25 overs between lunch and tea.
Earlier from the very first ball of the day James Anderson grabbed his only wicket before Chris Woakes deservedly captured the last man for a first Ashes five-for. His 5-62 meant he led the team off with a smile, which had been missing when he thought he had done the job 17 runs sooner, but the TV umpire harshly declared it a no-ball.
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