Watch: Under-pressure England opener Zak Crawley was dismissed cheaply in the second innings of Kent’s County Championship opener against Northamptonshire.
Australia seamer Chris Tremain, bowling the second over of Kent’s chase on Day 4, sent off-stump cartwheeling to remove Crawley for just three runs.
Crawley approached the delivery with a stride before a loose, flashing straight drive left ample space for the Dukes ball to ease through the gap between bat and pad. He is unbalanced as the bails go flying, on the move as he aims the drive, before continuing his walk back to the pavilion at The Spitfire Ground.
The Kent opener came into the innings fresh off the back of a score of 91 as Kent were bowled out for 222 in the first innings as county cricket returned – facing 171 of the 418 deliveries in the innings. Batting proved tough in the first two innings of the game, with Crawley the only batter to make it past 40. The knock marked a noticeable change from the proactive ‘Bazball’ Crawley, who reaped mixed results on international tours of New Zealand and Pakistan.
However, the second-innings dismissal could raise further question marks over Crawley, who struggled on the front foot on tour with England, not reaching 50 in his past four Tests.
Despite Crawley’s dismissal, fellow opener Ben Compton (114*) and Jack Leaning (67*) took Kent comfortably over the line to kick off their Division One campaign with a seven-wicket victory.
Watch Crawley’s second-innings dismissal here:
The perfect start for Northants!
With Kent chasing 227, Chris Tremain cleans up Zak Crawley 🔥#CountyCricket2023 pic.twitter.com/he77EyX6mr
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 9, 2023