Ashes 2023: Alastair Cook lauds Zak Crawley, says he sees shades of Virender Sehwag in England opener

Zak Crawley is the highest run-getter in Ashes 2023. After four Tests, the English opener has amassed 385 runs including a daddy hundred and a fifty. Crawley started the series with a flamboyant fifty (61) in the series opener, in Edgbaston, and a brisk 48 in the Lord’s Test. He followed it up with 33 and 44 in the third Test, in Headingley, but came to his best in the fourth and penultimate Test.

After England rode on Chris Woakes’ five-fer to dismiss Australia for 317 in the Manchester Test, opener Crawley started off cautiously but went berserk from there on to slam 189 (182), laced with 21 fours and three sixes. Even though the Test ended in a draw, due to rain, Crawley made a huge mark and returned with the Player-of-the-Match award. The cricketing fraternity lauded the 38-Test old Crawley and former English captain Alastair Cook has joined the bandwagon as well.

Cook is in awe of Crawley’s strokeplay and compared his playing style with India great Virender Sehwag.

‘You can compare a little bit of Sehwag in terms of the ability to take frontline bowlers down’

During a media interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network, Cook said, “I think the way Zak Crawley has played in this series. That knock was a special knock. To score 189 out of 182 balls against the quality of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins I think is extraordinary. I think that potential is why Ben and Brendon have stuck with him. He plays shots which no one else can play as an opener in the world.”

“You can compare a little bit of Sehwag in terms of the ability to take frontline bowlers down. It’s actually unique and when he does have his day, he changes games. That’s why he’s been backed so hard by the England leadership and they got rewarded for it. I mean he plays shots that I could only dream of and it was an extraordinary innings,” Cook, England’s second-most successful Test captain mentioned.

Crawley will be over the moon having being compared with Sehwag. The former Indian opener was a nightmare for bowlers as he often took them on from the word go while opening the innings in the red-ball format. He ended with 8,586 runs in 104 Tests, at a strike rate of 82.23, including 32 fifties and 23 tons.

Ashes 2023 on the line for England

England will hope for another big contribution from Crawley in the fifth and final Test as Ben Stokes & Co. need to win The Oval contest to end the series at 2-2. Australia, meanwhile, have retained the urn — after rain helped them prevent a likely loss in Manchester — and will now aim for their first Ashes glory in England after 22 years.