London [UK], June 11 : England Test vice-captain Ollie Pope has backed opener Zak Crawley to come good during the Ashes series against Australia starting from June 16 onwards, saying that the batter is capable of hitting a century in just a hundred balls and taking the game away from his opposition in space of a session.
Crawley's place in the squad has been a point of debate in an English squad that has won 11 of their past 13 Tests with Ben Stokes at the helm. He has been a consistent pick since the start of last summer, but he comes into the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston this week with an average of just 27.69. There have only been four innings beyond fifty, including a century against Pakistan in December, with the most recent fifty coming against Ireland at Lord's last week, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have backed the 25-year-old and his potential, urging everyone not to judge him solely based on his runs. During his poor run last summer, McCullum said that Crawley's skillset "is not to be a consistent cricketer", encouraging him to continue with his attacking style at the top for his team's sake.
And, facing an 11-run chase in the fourth innings against Ireland last week at Lord's, Stuart Broad mentioned how, during the innings break, there was discussion of Crawley winning the game with straight sixes. "The conversation in that 10 minutes was, 'Can you do it with two balls?'" he explained. "Do not take four overs, and do not worry about getting out..." Crawley eventually won the chase with three fours in four balls.
Pope also echoes the sentiments of Stokes and McCullum and said that against the likes of pacers like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and spinner Nathan Lyon that how high his ceiling is as he is someone to take the game away from the opponents within a span of a single session.
"The player that Zak is, he could have a tough first game, have a tough first innings of a second game and then go and blast a hundred off a hundred, because he's got the ability to do that against Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon - these guys. That is the exciting thing about Zak as a player - you know he can take the game and, in the space of a session, set the tone or break the back of a run-chase," said Pope as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"We chat about it openly and he would not mind me saying - there have been times when he has not scored the weight of runs that he has wanted. But there have also been times when he has played some knocks that have gone under the radar. He has scored his three hundreds (in his career) but he has also had a lot of big knocks at the top of the order," added Pope.
Pope cited Crawley's knocks against India and South Africa from last year as some of the opener's overlooked performances. In the former, Crawley scored 46 during the opening stand of 107 with Alex Lees that set the tone for a run-chase of 378 against India and the fifth and final Test. In the latter, Crawley scored 38 off 101 balls and centuries from Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes followed, leading England to 415/9 against the Proteas. England were able to declare at that score and won the match by an innings margin to level the series.
Pope also scored 77 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground against a top-class Aussie pace attack. England players and coaching staff believe that this knock showcases his ability way more than his 267 against Pakistan in 2020.
"He's obviously a player who can deal with 90mph bowling at his head," said Pope on that innings.
Crawley also has brushed aside all social media criticism, stating last month that he does not care for views of "the average punter" questioning his place in the team.
Pope sympathised with his teammate's plight and believes that focusing more on the five matches versus Australia should not be the end-all and be-all. Not only for Crawley but also for the rest of an England team vying for the urn for the first time since 2015.
"Firstly, Zak is a top bloke and a very well-liked bloke in the changing room. There is a lot of media around it, because of the numbers. There has been a lot of chat. Coming in after someone like Alastair Cook and the way he played - what a legend of the game he is, averaged 40-odd - there is probably a bit of a stereotype maybe as to that England opening spot, you need to be averaging 40 and batting this way."
"Just because it is an Ashes series, there's more on it because there are more public eyes watching. But it does not have to be a make-or-break series. There is pressure on us all going into this series. We are playing one of the best teams in the world in our home conditions, so we are desperate for everyone to do well. But at the same time, if it does not go to plan, what we have done as a team in the last year and a bit ... for nobody is it a make-or-break series," concluded Pope.
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