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Zak Crawley has played 53 Tests for England but does he deserve to keep his place in the team? - Getty Images/Hannah Peters
Zak Crawley will equal Herbert Sutcliffe’s number of England caps at Trent Bridge later this month after retaining his place for the Zimbabwe Test.
It will be Crawley’s 54th Test and his average is half that of Sutcliffe’s (30 to 60); different era, completely different sport but it shows how experienced the 27-year-old is now.
Despite playing more Tests than Derek Randall, Jonathan Trott and Dennis Amiss he remains a player picked on potential. He is an investment that has not reaped consistent dividends; it’s either a pot of gold like his 189 against Australia two summers ago (his last Test hundred) or a bag of rusty nails.
Even selector Luke Wright admitted he had been picked more in hope than expectation. “I’m sure he is disappointed with his last six months but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a great summer so we want to back him – so let’s hope it works.”
He survives because England are willing to gamble that he will decisively influence a Test match against India this summer or Australia in the winter. He averaged 53 in the last Ashes and 40 away to India; better attacks tend to bring our his better performances.
Whether batting first or chasing a score on a worn pitch, Crawley can spark an innings with his stroke-play and quick scoring. He has a good partnership with Ben Duckett that England are very reluctant to break up.
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Zak Crawley (left) and Ben Duckett (right) have dovetailed well together for England - AP/Rui Vieira
But he plays against Zimbabwe on the back of a dismal year. He spent half of last summer injured with a broken finger. Upon his return he averaged 27.8 in Pakistan and 8.66 in New Zealand, where he became Matt Henry’s play thing, dismissed by him eight times in 64 balls.
At the end of that tour Crawley looked lower than ever, and it is not as though he is a stranger to lean series. He was perhaps fortunate England have had an extended six-month gap between Test series; the Ashes are now close and there is a reluctance to make top-order changes with India and Australia their next opponents.
But Crawley is in a real rut and it continued on Friday, dismissed for six against Middlesex at Lord’s. In recent times there has been a dearth of options but now there is an alternative to Crawley in Durham’s Ben McKinney. He is only 20, but already high up in the selectors’ thoughts.
He would have made a bolder reserve-batsman pick in the squad than Jordan Cox because England are not short of lower-order hitters. It is alternatives in the top three that need to be groomed and McKinney could have learnt a lot around the Test squad at Trent Bridge.
Instead, England chose not to put Crawley in the position of going out to open feeling the hot breath of a rival on his neck. Batsmen get that kind of backing, unlike bowlers.
McKinney is a tall, 6ft 7in left-hander who plays a little like Marcus Trescothick with the intent England want. His 186-ball hundred on a tricky pitch against Warwickshire last month proved he can adapt and a century on the Lions tour against Australia A in January won him the admiration of Andrew Flintoff, whose opinion is influential.
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The imposing Durham batsman Ben McKinney is reminiscent of Marcus Trescothick in style - Getty Images/Stu Forster
McKinney will play for the Lions against India A in June. It’s a fixture the week after the Zimbabwe Test, and if Crawley fails at Trent Bridge that Lions game could be a crucial match for McKinney.
The dilemma for England will be how long do they feed the rope on Crawley before making a call. If he does start poorly, time will be running out to give McKinney a match before Australia and England have in the past made the mistake of picking new openers too close to an Ashes tour (Mark Stoneman and Haseeb Hameed).
Jacob Bethell’s IPL contract helped England swerve a tricky decision over Ollie Pope, but there is no doubt he and Crawley are the two in the crosshairs against Zimbabwe. Pope returns to No 3 where Bethell looked far more secure and level in New Zealand.
It feels like Pope needs a score more than Crawley because it is clear Bethell will return immediately for the India series. England are convinced they have a generational player in Bethell, who has been working on his left-arm spin in India while a reserve in the IPL with Bangalore.
There is no doubt England are frustrated at county cricket. The fact Bethell is in India makes no difference to their outlook. He can come back and slot into the side without any real first-class exposure.
Crawley has made four single-figure scores and two fifties, groping around against a moving ball at a pace a notch below Test level – in other words a completely different challenge to playing for England. The pitches on the circuit for the current round are mostly green despite the baking weather this week, as counties look to result surfaces before the first break in the calendar for the Blast.
It is why England pick on their own instincts and not numbers from the county circuit. If they did that, Crawley would be well and truly out of the frame.
Stokes setting sights on bowling return against Zimbabwe
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Ben Stokes is expected to bowl at full pace against Zimbabwe this month, despite it being the England captain’s first match of any form after six months out with a hamstring tear.
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Ben Stokes is straining at the leash to bowl at Zimbabwe despite his recent lengthy injury lay-off - AFP/Michael Bradley
As reported by Telegraph Sport, England have selected the uncapped Essex seamer Sam Cook in an otherwise settled 13-man squad to face Zimbabwe in a four-day Test at Trent Bridge on May 22.
The other uncapped player is Jordan Cox, who will act as the spare batsman, with Jacob Bethell at the Indian Premier League, Ollie Pope returning to No 3 and Jamie Smith back as wicketkeeper. The seam attack is green, given a slew of injuries, with Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue likely to play alongside Cook, with Matthew Potts in reserve. Shoaib Bashir is retained to bowl off-spin.
Stokes’s all-round status is so key to the balance of England in an era-defining year in which they will face India (at home) and Australia (away). Since taking over as captain in 2022, the 33-year-old has been dogged by injuries, first to his knee and more recently to his left hamstring. He suffered two serious tears last year, the second of which required surgery after the tour of New Zealand in December.
Stokes is back bowling and selector Luke Wright expects him to play as an all-rounder – perhaps with some limits over how many overs he can bowl – against Zimbabwe. He will not play any cricket before that match, however.
“No [he won’t],” he said. “He’s doing really well, working so hard. As we stand he’s going to be fine to play a full role, which is great news for us.
“We have to make sure Stokesy doesn’t do too much, obviously he has tendencies to be desperate to get stuck in too much.
“We might have to restrict him to bowling a certain amount of overs, just to be careful with him coming back, but he’ll be at full pace.
“He’s been non-stop in the nets, getting ready. We’ve got this training camp [at Loughborough from May 12]. He’s looking really good, ready and raring, and excited.”
Potential Stokes role with Flintoff’s Lions
After the first Test, Stokes could be among the England players who turn out for Andrew Flintoff’s Lions team against India A in one of two first-class matches. The management have pencilled Jofra Archer in for one of those games if he returns from the IPL fully fit.
Brydon Carse (toe) and Chris Woakes (ankle) will miss the Test against Zimbabwe but are both pencilled in for two Championship matches on May 16 and 23 in preparation for the series against India. Mark Wood and Olly Stone are longer-term absentees.
In their absence comes Cook’s long-awaited opportunity. The 27-year-old’s selection is reward for consistent excellence – he has taken 318 first-class wickets at an average under 20 in first-class cricket – but also perseverance and commitment to England. Wright praised him for choosing the Lions tour of Australia over franchise opportunities this winter.
“The thing I like about Cooky is he’s not just a swing bowler, he swings and seams the ball,” said Wright. “He’s a bigger lad than people realise. He gets bounce, but is known for his accuracy. Speak to top-order batters in county cricket, he’s the one everyone fears the most.
“I’ve been so impressed with him. Every time there is a different challenge, you think things will be stacked against him, he performs and still takes wickets. Yes, he’s not up there at 85-86mph but that is fine because he’s got incredible skill.
“He reached out as soon as any other bowler got picked and we’ve kept that dialogue going, explaining what our thinking was.
“He’s kept knocking the door down and fair play to him. We spoke to him at the end of the summer and we knew we had that Lions trip to Australia.
“I said I’d love him to go and keep pushing his case bit it was a tough decision, he’d already lined up some franchise cricket and fair play to him, he rang me back a few days later and said: ‘England is my number one, I’ll give up the franchise and keep doing everything I can.’
“He came to that Australia trip and performed well again, so I’m glad he gets the opportunity.”
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Sam Cook has impressed England selector Luke Wright by making sacrifices to help his international prospects - Getty Images/Andy Kearns
As the squad was named, it was a thin day for the batsmen in England’s Test squad in the Championship. At Lord’s, Crawley did not make it through the first half-hour before being trapped lbw by Dane Patterson for his fourth single figure scores in four first innings this season, as Kent were bowled out for 129.
At Headingley, Root was caught at second slip for one (having already been dropped at first slip), then Brook upper-cut the first ball after lunch to third man for 33. And at a very green Taunton, Cox spooned Josh Davey to mid-on for 26.
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