Former England opener Nick Compton has pointed out what he feels is a technical weakness in Zak Crawley’s game.
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Crawley has recently won back his England Test place following a torrid 2021 in which he averaged 10.81 from 16 innings. Either side of that poor year, he has given England fans plenty to be excited about, making 267 against Pakistan in his final innings of 2020 and starting 2022 with a bang. A half-century in the fourth Ashes Test was followed by his second Test century in the first Test against West Indies. Crawley made a duck in the first innings of the second Test, and is unbeaten on 21 heading into the final day.
Compton, who averaged 28.70 from 16 Tests between 2012 and 2016, praised Crawley’s attacking talent, but then drew attention to a technical flaw in his game.
“Crawley, while he clearly has some attractive attacking options/talent, will struggle against a quality opening attack unless he does some work on his defence,” he tweeted.
“[He] stands on off stump which is [thumbs up emoji] but then plays at balls that he needn’t with the line of his bat coming across ball”.
Crawley, while he clearly has some attractive attacking options/talent, will struggle against a quality opening attack unless he does some work on his defence. Stands on off stump which is 👍 but then plays at balls that he needn’t with the line of his bat coming across ball
— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) March 19, 2022
Nasser Hussain, a former England captain and respected pundit, has also discussed the perceived flaw in Crawley’s technique in his column in the Daily Mail.
“The problem he has faced is an obvious flaw in his technique,” he wrote. “Because of his strong bottom hand and the way his bat comes down from about fourth slip towards mid-on, he drives with a closed face, which can make him vulnerable when the ball is doing a bit off the seam — as it usually does in England.”
But he went on to add that all batters had their technical flaws, and it shouldn’t stop England from backing him in the future.
“All batsmen have their technical issues, and they’re usually quite easy to spot. What marks out the best coaches are the ones who can suggest a remedy,” he added. “There’s no question he’s worth persevering with. He also knows that his technique will come under greater scrutiny on more testing surfaces than the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Back in England, against the Dukes ball, he will find the seam attacks of New Zealand and South Africa a bit less obliging.”
