Zak Crawley: "Any batsman starts to question himself during a run of low scores"

Crawley followed up a poor run of scores at the start of the County Championship season with a supreme double hundred for Kent against Somerset

Nick Friend | 19/05/2024 at 20:14

Zak Crawley admitted to questioning himself during a fallow run at the start of the county season before producing a masterful double hundred to give Kent a chance of salvaging a draw against Somerset.

Crawley, the England Test opener, had made scores of one, four, five, six, 10 and 41 ahead of a trip to Somerset and then fell for a first-ball duck in his first innings at Taunton.

But with Kent miles behind in the game and forced to follow on by their hosts, Crawley shared a 194-run stand for the first wicket with Ben Compton and then a partnership of 184 for the second wicket with Daniel Bell-Drummond.

Crawley was eventually caught behind by James Rew off Migael Pretorius for 238 in 267 balls, with 31 fours and four sixes.

"To be honest, I have been hitting the ball well in the nets going into all the games, but a bit of bad luck and a couple of poor shots had seen me struggle for runs until today," he told the ECB Reporters Network afterwards.

"Of course, any batsman starts to question himself during a run of low scores and wonders why he is doing this or that. But I try not to get too down on myself these days. I trusted that a good score was around the corner and thankfully it came today."

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^{Crawley was imperious for Kent on Sunday (Harry Trump/Getty Images)}

England's first Test assignment of the summer only begins on July 10 at Lord's, when they face West Indies in James Anderson's farewell appearance. Crawley has averaged 42.2 since the start of 2023 in Test cricket.

"I love playing for England and always have, so of course I want to be part of things this summer," he added. "We have an environment where we are actively encouraged to enjoy our cricket, which is great."

Crawley, who has been critical of county pitches in the past, praised Taunton, calling it "the best non-Test-playing ground in the country" and "a pleasure to play" at.

"But it's a mixture of emotions tonight," he added, "because of the wickets we lost late in the day. I would love to have still be there at the close with the chance to help us further tomorrow."

Crawley's departure, followed by that of nightwatchman Nathan Gilchrist, meant that Kent finished the day just 33 runs ahead of their hosts, with five wickets remaining.

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