Follow UsAfter a string of low scores in 2024, Zak Crawley seemed to have turned a corner after a superb fifty in the fourth innings at Headingley, which came on the back of a ton against Zimbabwe in Nottingham. He scored 65 in a record 188-run stand with Ben Duckett that helped England knock off 371 with ease.
However, that turned out to be a false dawn as the right-handed opener perished cheaply twice in the second Test at Edgbaston, on a flat wicket, chasing wide deliveries on both occasions.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain was disappointed by Crawley’s showing in this ongoing Test, and insisted that he let himself down with two failures driven by impatience and indiscipline.
"Both of Crawley's wickets in each innings has been bad batting - poor," Hussain said on Sky Sports.
"I don't understand why he has changed his guard to outside off, as that leads to him playing at deliveries wide outside off stump. He played so well in the second innings at Headingley; I don't understand why he'd do that.
"It's not just that, people tinker or whatever. But on this surface, you need to see off that new ball - even in this modern era, Crawley has to understand that.
"He's just seen Shubman Gill [score 430 runs in this Test]; if you see off that new ball, it will get so much easier. He's let himself down twice in this game."
Among 62 openers in Test history who have scored 2,500 or more runs, Crawley’s average of 30.33 is now the lowest ever.