Loved my role in time wasting row at Lord’s, Crawley

Zak Crawley says he “loved” the time-wasting row at Lord’s and reflects on England’s strong start at Old Trafford, his improved mindset, and the growing bond with fellow opener Ben Duckett.

Hyderabad: England opener Zak Crawley (84), who was involved in a brilliant 166-run stand with his opening partner Ben Duckett (94), revealed that he “loved” his role in the time wasting row at Lord’s and sensed “a good chance” to rile India by playing pantomime villain after he laid the foundations for England’s strong response at Old Trafford on the second day of the fourth Test against India on Thursday.

“I’ve always enjoyed that part of cricket, to be honest, especially when you’re batting,” he said. “There’s two of you against eleven and they’re desperate to get you out, and they’re chirping you. Most of the time, I’d probably let it slide, and then other times, I feel like it’s a good chance to put it back on them. I loved that little eight-minute passage,” Crawley explained in a media interaction at the end of day’s play.

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“No-one stepped over the line. I thought everyone was in good spirits. It was just competitive cricket, and I really enjoyed it,” he said.

Questioned whether he had intentionally arrived at the crease late, as Gill suggested, Crawley said: “No, no. Not at all. I sit in my spot [in the dressing room] until the umpires go out. I saw the umpires go, and I walked out. I wasn’t aware that we were 90 seconds late, but fair enough,” he replied.

“I have high standards for myself, and I work very hard in my game,” he said. “I always want more for myself, and I’ve certainly wanted more for myself than I’ve got in the last year or so. That’s just an internal thing. I don’t feel that pressure from anyone else,” the England opener said.

“I just feel like I owe it to myself to have a few more good performances. Days like today make the practice and the tougher times worth it a bit more. Obviously, I wanted more runs today, but I feel like I’ve worked hard and earned those runs,” he said.

Crawley said that he had worked hard on trying to stay “relaxed” at the crease after a series of “half-hearted” dismissals in the series. “Sometimes you’re looking for something a little bit too much… It looks too aggressive, but in my mind, actually, I was like, ‘Too half-hearted.’ I was pleased today that when it was there to hit, I put my hands through it.”

“He’s (Duckett) a phenomenal player and he takes a lot of pressure off me,” Crawley said. “He scores at a run-a-ball effortlessly, and it allows you to go about your business. We talk a lot in the middle about how we want to go about it, and obviously our height difference – and being left-right-hand – probably makes it quite hard for the bowlers at times, when we’re both going well at either end,” Crawley said.