Englandwatch: Crawley’s struggles continue, Smith stands out

Ollie Pope

In yet another Surrey win in the first period of Championship action, their middle order of England names was outshone by a brilliant innings from Jamie Smith. The 23-year-old hit a spectacular 155 in Surrey’s first innings, with Pope briefly staying with him with 44 off 77 balls. Pope was out before Tea on Day Two edging to the slips with an extravagant drive. He wasn’t required to bat in Surrey’s second innings, where they chased just 89 runs to win with one wicket down shortly after the start of play on Day Four.

Ben Foakes

Foakes was equally outshone by Smith’s brilliance as Pope, but did manage to reach a half-century in his only innings. After Surrey lost two quick wickets in the afternoon session of Day Two, Foakes stabalised the innings alongside Smith before he was bowled by Craig Miles with a ball that kept low late in the day. As ever, Foakes was exceptional behind the stumps, taking three catches in the match, including a superb diving effort to dismiss Will Rhodes in Warwickshire’s second innings.

Dan Lawrence

Lawrence was anonymous with the bat, scoring three off 10 balls in the only innings he was required to bat. However, he made a crucial breakthrough with the ball on the morning of Day Two when Surrey were looking to wrap up the last of the Warwickshire wickets. Only into the third over of his innings, Lawrence got Barnard, who had reached his century earlier in the session, skewing a catch to Dom Sibley at cover, giving him his eighth wicket of the season.

Zak Crawley

It was another difficult week for Crawley, who faced 15 balls in each of Kent’s innings’ after they were asked to follow on. He scored six in the first innings before he was caught behind off a delivery from Joe Leach, and 10 in the second, this time falling to Jason Holder. Crawley’s last seven innings in the Championship have now been 0, 5, 4, 41, 1, 6 and 10.

Alex Lees

Lees last played for England in the first summer of the Ben Stokes – Brendon McCullum era in 2022. He played all seven Test matches of that summer, averaging 21.15 with two half-centuries. However, his dominant promotion-winning season with Durham last year brought him closer to the reckoning as England’s next-choice opener. A 145 in Durham’s first Division One match this season only strengthened his case. Against Hampshire in the latest round, Lees scored 71 before he was trapped lbw by Liam Dawson in Durham’s only innings.

Matthew Potts

Potts is another player searching for an England recall having been absent from their Test XI since 2022. He has struggled with the ball early in the season, with eight wickets to his name after five matches, and went wicketless in Hampshire’s first innings this week. However, he took two wickets in consecutive overs in the second, by which time the match was all but over, getting first innings centurion Ali Orr caught behind and castling Fletcha Middleton.