Zak Crawley’s unforgiving Bazball century unravelled Australia and continued to prise open this Ashes series as England charged into control of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Hammering 189 in just 182 balls with 21 fours and three sixes, Crawley drove England to 4/384 from just 72 overs on the second day in reply to Australia’s 317 from 90 overs. Australia’s bad day became worse when Mitchell Starc was forced to leave the field holding his left shoulder after diving to stop a boundary. He came back on only to leave the field again.
England’s Zak Crawley runs past Australia’s Josh Hazlewood after playing a shot.Credit: AP
The ferocity of Crawley’s innings highlighted the disappointment of Australia’s batting on the opening day, when most batsmen made starts, but the top score was 51.
With showers forecast on the weekend and England needing to win this Test and the last to claim the series 3-2 after going 0-2 down, they redoubled their efforts to drive this game forward.
Crawley’s century came up in just 93 balls, the second fastest at Old Trafford behind Ian Botham’s 86 balls back in 1981, and his 150 at a run a ball was the fastest ever achieved at the venue. Crawley shared a partnership of 206 inside 30 overs with Joe Root.
Having been relieved of the captaincy burden after winning just one of his last 17 Tests in charge, Root continued his newborn revival as a free-spirited batsman, reverse scooping Mitchell Marsh for six and playing the same shot against Pat Cummins to bring up his half-century. Root was bowled for 84 in 95 balls by a shooter from Josh Hazlewood that should worry batsmen from both teams.
Mitchell Starc was injured diving for a ball.Credit: AP
Australia may have won the World Test Championship against India at The Oval last month to be crowned the best Test team in the world, but they looked a rabble at times under pressure on Thursday.
The most obvious crime was continually bowling too straight to Crawley, who plays comfortably for runs into the leg side but throws his bat at big ego drives wide outside the off stump, which have too often been his downfall in the past. However, instead of making Crawley continually reach for the ball, about 60 percent of his runs came on the leg side.
Crawley is an obvious talent, but he went into this match with a batting average under 29 from 37 Tests. And England’s makeshift number 3, Moeen Ali, a spinner just out of Test retirement who usually bats at number 8, had an average of 28 from 66 Tests.
Together they added 121 in 25 overs to build the foundation for a wholesale onslaught after Starc removed Ben Duckett, caught behind for one.
The match was in the balance at lunch with England 1/61 before unleashing in the second session, scoring 178 in 25 overs at more than seven an over. Crawley romped from 26 to 132 at tea and continued on his merry way after the break. It was fitting that Crawley took England into the lead with a straight six off Mitchell Marsh, motoring past Australia’s 317 inside 55 overs.
For someone who has struggled for consistency throughout his career, Crawley is now the leading run scorer in the series with 385 at 55, going past Usman Khawaja’s 359.
Australia missed the steadiness of injured veteran spinner Nathan Lyon and decided not to choose the 22-year-old Todd Murphy as his replacement, which may have been a mistake or a blessing depending on how he would have coped with England’s Bazball onslaught.
Instead, Travis Head’s occasional off-breaks were called on, and dismissed just as quickly. Crawley reverse-swept Head’s first ball to the boundary, and slog-swept the second for six. Head finished with 0-40 from eight overs.
Australia chose both all-rounders, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green. Marsh had to play following his excellent century at Headingley, and followed up with a strong 51 in Australia’s first innings at Old Trafford.
However, Green is struggling with the bat, averaging just 20 for the series after missing the third Test with a minor hamstring complaint, which opened the door for Marsh. Green was selected more for his bowling in this match given he is a tall young man who generates good pace and bounce.
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