Zak Crawley was "a revelation" for England in The Ashes, according to batting great David Gower.
England recovered from 2-0 down against Australia to draw the five-match series 2-2 and may have even forced a famous victory had the weather not intervened in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
Crawley scored a magnificent 189 from 182 balls in that Manchester contest and finished the series as England's top scorer with 480 runs at an impressive 53.33 average.
Having also hit fifties at Edgbaston and The Oval, Crawley is now established at the top of the order after what had been a mixed start to his Test career.
Prior to this summer, the 25-year-old averaged just 27.60 and had only produced 10 scores of 50+ across his first 61 innings in the longest format.
Gower, who with 3,037 runs is England's second-highest run-scorer in Ashes history, hopes the opener has turned the corner.
"Look at the way Zak Crawley batted – for the last three years he has been an enigma," Gower said to Stats Perform.
"You look at the man thinking he has got enormous talent. You look at the way he hits the ball and you think this man must make thousands of runs. And yet, he's averaging 20-odd.
"Suddenly, in this series, that style has been proven to be worthy.
"The trick for Zak Crawley now would be to carry on doing that wherever else he plays in the world and hopefully the lesson will have stuck.
"There are ways he can do that because he did change his game slightly, he did become more nuanced in the way he approached the opening overs of an innings.
"So people do learn as they go. This is the great thing – people learn throughout their careers and you have never nailed it for sure. You are learning each and every day that you are out there.
"Zak Crawley certainly contended to be a player of the series, I think that was a revelation."
Gower felt it was difficult to select a player of the series, with Chris Woakes ultimately winning the award despite not playing in every match.
The former England captain added: "It is always hard picking a player of a series when you've seen so many performances. The official result was Chris Woakes, who came in to play only three Test matches.
"What was interesting to me was that, for all the preparation and all the planning, things fell into place – not entirely by accident, but by circumstance – with Ollie Pope having to be left out because of injury.
"So the balance of the team changed, Woakes and [Mark] Wood came in and the Woakes-Wood partnership actually seemed to make a huge difference to England.
"Wood's pace at Leeds was very much the difference. And Woakes [made an impact] mainly with the ball and a little bit with the bat as well.
"Woakes just had a series that he will savour for a long, long time."
England do not return to Test action until January 2024, when they will travel to India for a five-match series.
They will now turn their attention to retaining the Cricket World Cup. The latest edition of the 50-over tournament starts in October.
Russell defends CPL's contribution to regional cricket but open to suggestions on improvements
With their long-term agreement with Cricket West Indies (CWI) heavily scrutinised by government leaders and cricket stalwarts, chief executive, Pete Russell of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) defended the product’s positive contribution to cricket in the region.
Addressing the gathering on Friday’s final day of the CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, Russell said the CPL is one of CWI’s largest domestic commercial partners.
While noting that CPL contributed significantly to player economic welfare, with nearly US$28 million spent on salaries since the start of the tournament in 2013, Russell, also revealed that cumulative losses, across both the league and franchises for the past 11 years, stand at US$40 million.
“Dennis O’Brien and Digicel have been the principal investors, not only investing in the league from day one but they also spent money on sponsorship and media rights. The franchises have also pumped in significant money, money that helps pay players and coaches, as well as investing in local businesses around the region that help make the games happen. All the franchises have made losses.
“So, on the positive side, Cricket West Indies has been paid close to US$17 million in sanction fees, so over the past 12 years CPL would be one of CWI’s largest domestic, commercial partners. Caribbean players have taken home US$27.7 million in player salaries since the tournament’s inception, all paid for by the franchises,” Russell declared during the event held in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Each year, it takes US$25 million to run this tournament over five weeks. CPL and the franchises bear all these costs. There is no financial burden on CWI or the territorial boards, so the risk is 100 per cent ours.
“So that is our starting point each and every year. So as you can imagine, the commercial challenges are considerable just to break even,” he added.
Russell’s response came as government leaders and West Indies legend Sir Clive Lloyd, suggested that the 50-year contract between CPL and CWI be re-negotiated.
The issue of the league’s ownership was also called into question, as they view was largely expressed that there would potentially be more development and earnings for players, if CWI controlled the tournament.
But, Russell, a member of the CPL management team rebutted.
“What is interesting is that other leagues around the world are following the lead of CWI. They are also looking for third-party investors to help fund their leagues. The English Cricket Board are in the process of selling The Hundred, the Australian Cricket Board are courting outside investors for the Big Bash, Cricket South Africa sold all their rights to host broadcaster Supersport, and the new American Major League Cricket is 100 per cent privately owned,” Russell shared.
“In time, only the IPL will end up being 100 per cent owned by its domestic board and that is simply because they can afford to do so. So, trust me when I say, ownership isn’t everything, and smart stewardship and partnership can yield better results. But of course, we’re always happy to listen to any suggestions on how we can improve things,” he ended.
IPL: Royals extend lead at the top after Samson and Jurel see off LSG
Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel combined for an unbeaten partnership of 121 as Indian Premier League leaders Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.
The Royals have now won eight of their nine matches in the 2024 campaign and are almost certain to be involved in the playoffs after chasing down their victory target of 197 with an over to spare in a seven-wicket triumph.
Another Royals win had looked unlikely when they fell to 78-3 in their run chase after Jos Buttler (34), Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Riyan Parag (14) all fell in quick succession shortly before the halfway mark.
But Rajasthan captain Samson fought back as he blasted 71 runs from 33 balls including seven fours and four maximums, while Jurel bounced back from a poor period of form to finish unbeaten on 52 from 34.
LSG reached 196-5 from their innings courtesy of a fine knock from their own skipper, KL Rahul. He reached 76 from 48 before eventually falling to Avesh Khan (1-42) in the 18th over.
Deepak Hooda made it to 50 as LSG rallied from 11-2, but ultimately their competitive total was within reach of the visiting Royals.
Data Debrief
This is the second time in as many home games Rahul has passed fifty, after he scored 82 against Chennai Super Kings last week.
Samson (385) and Rahul (378) are second and third respectively in the race to win this season’s orange cap, although RCB’s Virat Kohli continues to set the pace with 430 runs.
They also narrowly trail Kohli (40) when it comes to the most fours hit in this season’s competition, with Samson on 36 and Rahul just behind with 34.
Babar's captain's innings leads Pakistan to victory as series drawn with New Zealand
Babar Azam top scored as he led his Pakistan team to a nine-run victory over New Zealand in Lahore that saw the five-game T20I series end in a draw.
Babar hit 69 runs off 44 balls before being bowled by Ben Sears, smashing six fours and two sixes to take his team to 123/3 at the time of his dismissal.
Fakhar Zaman (43 from 33) and Usman Khan (31 off 24) also chipped in with important innings as Pakistan ended on 178/5.
With a target of 179 to secure a 3-1 series victory, New Zealand's run chase faltered almost immediately as opener Tom Blundell was removed within the first over with his team having managed just five runs on the board.
Blundell's fellow opener Tim Seifert steadied the ship with a vital 52-run innings off 33 deliveries before being bowled by Usama Mir, but Shaheen Shah Afridi led the way for Pakistan, finishing with figures of 4-30 to stem the New Zealand run chase
Josh Clarkson's 38 off 26 set up a nervy conclusion, but Pakistan held on to avoid defeat in the T20 series as the teams share the spoils at two wins apiece after the first game was abandoned.
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