Zak Crawley, whose imperious 189 pushed England into the driver’s seat in the Manchester Ashes Test, said that he “probably wouldn’t have been playing this series” under any other coach and captain.

Crawley has divided opinion for the most part of his career, with his detractors questioning his lack of consistency despite being given a long rope. Before this Test, his average stood at 28.65 after 69 innings, with two hundreds and four fifties in the last year and a half.

Under the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes coach-captain combination, Crawley has been given the license to express himself at the top. Since July last year, his strike rate has gone up from 54.26 to 63.33 (after the Manchester knock).

Speaking after the second day’s play, with England 67 runs ahead and now gunning to level the series 2-2, Crawley said that being backed by the coach and captain has helped him gain a lot of confidence.

“It’s fair to say under any other coach or captain I probably wouldn’t be playing this series, so to be backed by them gives me a lot of confidence,” he said. “They’ve always said to me don’t worry about being consistent, just try and win games for England.”

Crawley took just 182 balls for his 189 runs, combining with Joe Root to put on a 206-run stand in just 29.4 overs to help England clear the deficit and go into a lead heading into the third day. Crawley is now the leading run-getter in the ongoing Ashes, lacing his century with 21 fours and three sixes. His second fifty took just 26 balls.

Between lunch and tea, England scored 178 runs in 25 overs. Crawley finally perished in the 57th over, chopping a Cam Green delivery onto his stumps.

Crawley is hoping that the near double-ton will translate into an England win: “It’d be really nice if we win this game and hopefully I’ve contributed to that.”

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