County Championship: Zak Crawley slams 81 after Test axing
What's the story
Discarded England opener Zak Crawley made a strong comeback to First-Class cricket, scoring a solid 81 runs for Kent against Middlesex on the opening day of their County Championship match. The game, played at Merchant Taylors's School, was interrupted by rain, but Kent still managed to reach a total of 299 for six at stumps on Day 1. Here are the key stats.
Comeback story
Crawley's Test axing and return to 1st-class cricket
Crawley was dropped from England's Test team after the Ashes series and had taken a short break from red-ball cricket in June.
He had struggled in the Championship, scoring only 226 runs at an average of 20.54 in his first 12 innings of the summer.
However, after leading Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred, he returned to open the batting against Middlesex and scored a commendable 81 runs.
The opener smoked 13 fours during his 115-ball stay.
Team effort
Partnership between Crawley and Northeast
Crawley formed a solid partnership with Sam Northeast, who top-scored with 87 runs.
The duo added 142 runs for the second wicket after Ben Compton was dismissed lbw to Tom Helm for 13 in the 10th over of the day.
Despite an early scare from Helm, Northeast showed great resilience and found gaps to score boundaries.
Batting style
An aggressive yet patient knock from Crawley
Crawley was aggressive in his innings but showed uncharacteristic patience, avoiding balls outside off stump.
He punished loose deliveries with some exquisite shots, including a straight drive off Toby Roland-Jones and a pull shot off Helm.
However, just when a century looked imminent, he drove at a wide delivery from Ryan Higgins and was caught at slip.
CareerÂ
Here are his FC statsÂ
As per Cricinfo, Crawley smoked his 48th fifty in First-Class cricket, as he also owns 12 tons.
Playing his 146th FC game, Crawley has completed 8,144 runs. His average of 31-plus has a significant scope for improvement.
3,586 of his runs have come across 64 Tests for England at 31.18. This includes 21 fifties besides five tons.