Tom Latham's decision to put England in to bat at the Basin Reserve raised some eyebrows before the start of play on the first day of the second Test. With blue skies overhead and Ben Stokes asserting he would have had opted to bat if given the choice, Latham's logic quickly became apparent with the amount of movement his seam attack generated early in the day. Nevertheless, facing up to open, whether the ball was swinging or not didn't seem to matter to Crawley.

Facing a full ball from Southee, he immediately pulled out a big booming drive, causing momentary alarm as the ball ricocheted off his inside edge and past the face of the stumps. Throughout the over, Crawley appeared fidgety, eager as ever to feel bat on ball. He also had to be turned back by Ben Duckett, attempting a potentially dangerous quick single to a ball he hit straight to cover. Then, as if to complete as wildly frenzied a first-over possible, he whacked Tim Southee back over his own head off the final ball, clearing the rope.

That was the high-point, if only literally, of Crawley's morning. Swinging freely and beaten on both edges, the end felt inevitable. As ever, those drives Crawley did make connection with and flew away to the boundary were free-flowing and spectacular. But they were often followed by plays and misses in an innings that lacked control.

The innings was summed up by David Gower moments before Crawley was bowled by Matt Henry - a bowler he now averages 3.8 runs against in Tests and has been dismissed by five times. Gower said there was an "element of desperation" in the innings and "when you're not in form, you begin to doubt yourself".

The first time in the history of Test cricket that a batter has hit a six off a seamer in the first over of a Test.

Crawley later fell for 17.

(via @bbctms) #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/ctd1h8tNq0

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 5, 2024

Crawley is no doubt not in form. In his last six Test innings, he's been dismissed in single figures five times. His average for this year is now in danger of slipping below 30, and that Old Trafford 189 is shrinking further and further into the distance.

It's hard to judge Crawley's success in centuries and averages. His job is one half of the opening partnership which has driven England's growth over the last two years. Crawley has been tangibly successful in that role. Only two openers (Duckett and Usman Khawaja) have scored more runs in Tests than Crawley since the McCullum era began, and only Duckett has scored those runs at a higher strike-rate. However, those 60s and 70s which kept Crawley afloat in the long gaps between his mammoth scores, have now started to dry up.

Since beginning the home summer with an 89-ball 76 against West Indies, Crawley has only passed 30 once in 11 innings, that on the flattest surface ever in Multan. That's his worst run in Tests since 2022, when he was dismissed for single figures 10 times out of 17 innings in between centuries in Bridgetown and Rawalpindi.

That bad form is brought to the fore when the rest of England's top order also fall into chaos, as they did this morning in Wellington. Having played out a maiden to Henry in the second over, Duckett got a thick outside edge defending in his next over, before Joe Root was dismissed for his third single-figure score in five innings. By the time Jacob Bethell strangled one down the leg side, England were 43-4.

In typical England fashion though, the deception of going into Lunch with 124 runs distracts from the wicket column, helped by the length of their batting order. But, the chaos Crawley embodied in the first hour is a reminder that while England pride themselves on being able to win from any position, they still find themselves in the worst of those positions more often than not.

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