‘Maybe we can get 1,000’: Crawley sets sights high

Zak Crawley claimed he was joking when he said England’s next target should be to score “a thousand”, but after a day like this, you never know. To make 506 for four in 75 overs, with four players hitting centuries, stretches credibility, given the average run rate in Tests in Pakistan is 2.76, but even more remarkable given the lead-up to the game for England.

In all the fuss, it was easy to forget this was a day that was close to not happening.

The Test was given the all-clear only two hours before the toss and Ben Duckett, who also made a hundred along with his opening partner Crawley, admitted he would not have played had the game been due to start on Wednesday.

“I didn’t move from my bed all day. It all happened really fast, towards the end of Tuesday night, it just came on,” he said of the vomiting bug that nearly scuppered England. “I felt fine going to bed, and I found out the next morning that there were about 13 or 14 others, so not the best build-up to a Test match and certainly not the best for me in my first one back for six years.

“But it would have had to have taken a lot for me not to come to the ground today and play, and, I mean,

Stokesy [Ben Stokes] said, ‘Let’s get out there and let’s take them on’.

“The energy levels probably weren’t the highest this morning. I think there were some happy men when we won the toss and batted and gave our bowlers another day to rest up.”

Crawley and Duckett had just signed their names on the honours board located in the media centre at the Pindi Stadium before reflecting together on their hundreds.

Both owe their centuries to the captain and coach, who back their style and character.

In Crawley’s case, it has meant them standing by him when he looked scoreless, and they have brought Duckett in from the cold after six years.

“The whole idea is to look to score. But we’re never really looking to score quickly, we just want to be positive,” Crawley said. “If they bowl 100 balls in a good spot, then we’ll block 100 balls. But if we get an opportunity to score, we’ll score.

“It was not easy opening the batting in the summer. I thought I played OK at times and played some decent knocks, but I didn’t get a decent score. Winning is great, but part of our goal is to make people want to watch Test cricket, and hopefully that’s happening.”