London [UK], August 1 : Brendon McCullum believes that batter Zak Crawley's success over Australia justified England's strategy for Test cricket since he took over as head coach.
Along with Joe Root and Ben Stokes, Crawley has been in each of England's 18 Test matches since McCullum took over as coach. Despite averaging just 23 last summer and scoring just one fifty, Crawley has continuously received public support.
McCullum instructed Crawley to "chase moments" before the series began, and Crawley dutifully obliged, slamming the first ball of the series for four through the covers off Pat Cummins on his way to an agenda-setting 61 off 73 at Edgbaston.
"Coming into the series, he was under quite a lot of pressure. The great thing was he was able to block that out as much as possible… you hope that's down to the environment the skipper's trying to create, and the sincere messaging," ESPNcricinfo quoted McCullum as saying.
Before this much-anticipated series, Crawley came under fire for lack of technique, recklessness and for edging the ball too often. Despite immense backing received by skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, who counted on his ability to make an impact over consistency, there were calls to drop him from the squad.
"480 runs at a strike rate of 90 [88.72], against the best bowling attack in the world, against the Dukes ball, in an Ashes series: people don't do that, you know? As the skipper said: you look at what people's upsides are, what their best days are, what they're capable of achieving rather than focusing on things that might not be there. He's a case in point," he added.
With Ben Duckett averaging 35.66 for the series and 53.21 since he was recalled to the Test lineup for the visit to Pakistan last year, there are no questions about who England's top opening duo is for the first time in ten years.
"Their contrasting skills - which we've talked a lot about leading into the series - is pretty evident and it helps one another. Ben Duckett's turned into a really serious player at the top of the order for us. Away from home as well, his game in sub-continent conditions you'd expect to really flourish, too," McCullum said.
Coming to the series, it was the perfect ending for Stuart Broad's glorious career, as England beat Australia by 49 runs at The Oval, as a magnificent Ashes series came to an end with a 2-2 scoreline.
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