Zak Crawley ‘doesn’t care’ critics on social media after saving test

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By Webdesk


Zak Crawley says he doesn’t care about criticism over his continued selection, after the opener was announced as one of 15 names for the first Test of the summer against Ireland, which takes place on June 1 ahead of the Ashes.

While the main talking point was the abolition of wicketkeeper Ben Foakes for the returning Jonny Bairstow, one offshoot was Crawley’s presence. The omission of Foakes came after the selectors couldn’t find a way to fit both him and Bairstow into the same XI. One option floated ahead of Tuesday’s squad announcement was to make room in the middle order by moving forward either Bairstow, Harry Brook or even Ben Stokes in place of Crawley. However, director Rob Key revealed that no such move was being considered.

As such, Crawley’s position was secure, sparking a wave of social media anguish criticizing the decision to keep him, ultimately at the expense of Foakes. During his speech on Tuesday, Crawley, who is not on social media, dismissed the talk around him and believes some of the criticism was unfair.

“I never see any of that [online criticism]Crawley told BBC Sport.

“I talk to guys who do have social media and they see that. They see Joe Bloggs trying.

“[Being off] social media helps me get away from the average gambler and what they have to say, which of course I don’t care anyway.

“Last year I sometimes felt I was getting a lot of attention, some of it unjustified. I played well and scored decent scores and I was still criticized, but it’s easy to comment.

“Of course I still see the experts and the people higher up in cricket and of course I didn’t have to read the papers to know my place was under scrutiny.

“I didn’t get the runs I should have, but I had some good hits.”

The 25-year-old has averaged just 27.60 over 33 caps and just 25.86 in 12 games since Stokes became Test captain at the start of last summer. In that time, he has only one hundred and two-and-a-half centuries in 23 innings, along with 11 single-digit scores.

Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have repeatedly defended Crawley’s poor results, stating that he is a batsman whose skills “are not a consistent cricketer”, as McCullum put it late last summer.

That has played out in the County Championship so far. Crawley played all five of Kent’s Division One games this season, scoring 350 runs at an average of 38.88. A bumper 170 against Essex and two half-centuries have come amid numerous false starts, including two ducks.

Crawley admits he has not performed as he would have liked for England. After some introspection, he believes he is better equipped to deal with the mental hardship, especially when it comes to judging his own performance. Part of that, he says, is coming to believe it’s “nonsense” to judge his output by centuries. Crawley has three at Test level, the last of which came against Pakistan in December.

“My shortcomings in international cricket are that I put too much pressure on myself. That’s the only reason. Every time I went out with the right attitude, I did well.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about my game, especially in the last few months. I look back at times when I’ve played well and I take the expectation away from myself and I just try to play.

“A lot of people talk about scoring hundreds in cricket all the time. I’m starting to believe that’s nonsense.

“I just want to go out and play well and then the score will come.

“I could play brilliantly for 20 and get a good ball. You could play terribly for 100 and everyone says ‘well hit’ when actually I played better for 20. You have to judge it on your terms.”



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