The first ball Crawley faced heralded an enthralling contest between England and Australia, and an excellent series on a personal level, with the opener averaging north of 50 in the series to this point, and vying with Usman Khawaja to be its leading run-scorer.

Cover-driving Pat Cummins for four to kickstart a raucous first day, the first ball instantly took its place alongside other memorable Ashes openers, including Steve Harmison’s first-ball wide in 2006/07 and Rory Burns being bowled for a golden duck in 2021/22.

After making several contributions, Crawley’s Ashes campaign received a crowning moment when he carved 189 at Old Trafford, albeit in the draw that confirmed Australia would retain the Ashes. A victory at the Kia Oval would give England a creditable 2-2 result, and, having conceded a 12-run lead, it took them just six balls to move into the ascendancy.

After Crawley smashed a full, wide delivery to the off-side fence, he took a single and allowed opening partner Ben Duckett to hit a pair of boundaries of his own.

Watch Zak Crawley cover drive Mitchell Starc for four below:

First ball, first boundary. What a start to the day from Zak Crawley.#Ashes2023 pic.twitter.com/KDk6VkF44r

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 29, 2023