England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood has backed Zak Crawley’s attacking game and cricket brain to shine through in his unexpected captaincy stint against Ireland.
Already a Test regular, Crawley has been eager to break into the white-ball setup for some time but even he would not have predicted his big chance would come as skipper.
Yet with the World Cup squad resting up ahead of next month’s World Cup in India, the 25-year-old has been picked to lead a development side in the three-match series.
Crawley has just three ODI caps to his name after answering an SOS from the selectors when a Covid outbreak affected the original squad, but this represents a more intriguing examination – of both his white-ball skills and his future leadership potential.
And Collingwood, who worked closely with Crawley during his outstanding Ashes series this summer and captained England’s limited-overs sides in his playing days, expects him to pass with flying colours.
“Zak’s already had a great summer and a memorable Ashes, so this is a perfect opportunity for him,” Collingwood told the PA news agency.
“It’s just an extension of what he’s been doing. People think coming from red-ball cricket means you need to do things differently but if you look at Zak he’s basically been playing Test match cricket with a white-ball attitude.
“He looks to score, he’s aggressive and he has incredible talent. We all know he’s got those long levers, he’s got the power and he’s got the timing. It should be great to watch.”
Collingwood has no concerns about Crawley being weighed down by the responsibility of captaining in a format he has yet to establish himself in as a batter, citing his mental toughness after a long period of intense scrutiny during leaner times in his Test career.
“He takes it all in his stride. The great thing about Zak is all the noise genuinely doesn’t bother him,” he said.
“All he’s thinking about is how he’s perceived in the dressing room bubble. To captain the side and billed as that leader is a great opportunity for him and he’ll enjoy it.
“He’s got a great sense of humour, which a lot people don’t get to see, and he’s very relaxed. That’s what you want from your leaders: not too up, not too down. It’s a short spell for him in charge but he has a good cricket brain and I think he’ll transfer that to the team.”
Crawley’s fearless approach in the Ashes – from cracking the first ball of the series for four, through to his unforgettable 189 at Old Trafford – personified the dynamic style of cricket England have pursued under the guidance of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
The thrills and spills of the series captured the imagination of the nation’s sporting public and Collingwood has been out spreading the gospel, taking part in a school coaching session at the Kia Oval in partnership with Play Their Way and the Chance to Shine charity.
“We could feel the Ashes reeled in a lot of news fans to the game and a lot of that is down to how these guys play the game,” said Collingwood.
“It’s vitally important we keep kids interested when they start to play and make it fun for them. When I was a kid there was a lot of emphasis straight away on defensive technique and caution. But these sessions are about educating coaches on what the kids want out of a session, not the other way around. We want them to hit the ball hard, enjoy it and hopefully stay in cricket.”
:: To learn more about the campaign, access resources and sign up to join the biggest grassroots movement to transform the way we coach our children and young people visit www.playtheirway.org.
Windies A end Nepal tour with six wicket defeat; top five-match series 3-2
West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the series 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.
It was more of the same in the curtain call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls, were the highlight of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.
Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.
In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.
McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.
Scores: West Indies A 172-7 (20 overs); Nepal 173-4 (18.5 overs)
After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together a 96-run second wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.
Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.
Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the host remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.
Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Johnson Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin.
Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.
Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right had medium fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.
Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
IPL: Iyer and Starc boost Kolkata's top-two hopes after Mumbai win
Venkatesh Iyer starred with 70 for Kolkata Knight Riders before Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul eased his side to a 24-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The Knight Riders only managed to post 169 at Wankhede Stadium as Iyer and Manish Pandey (42) were the only Kolkata batters to pass 15 runs on Friday.
Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 3-42 and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets for just 18 runs as Kolkata limped to a target that appeared somewhat reachable for Mumbai.
Yet Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir all failed to get going in response for the Indians before Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 56 promised a tense ending.
However, Andre Russell forced Suryakumar to launch a full toss into the sky for a simple Phil Salt catch – with the West Indian one of three Kolkata bowlers to collect two wickets, along with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (both 2-22).
Suryakumer's dismissal teed up Starc's three-wicket blitz to end the innings with 4-33, moving the Knight Riders up to second in the table as Tim David's quickfire 24 proved redundant for Mumbai.
Data Debrief: Iyer the hero as Mumbai play-off hopes stunted
Having been reduced to 57-5 in the first innings, Iyer stood up with his season-best 70 off just 52 balls – including six fours and three maximums – guiding Kolkata to a commendable target.
This defeat left Mumbai ninth in the table, some six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games remaining – they may live to rue not capitalising on a promising first-innings position.
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