Talented Crawley needs to show he has a cricket brain
Facing spin on a turning pitch is like a game of chess. It is a battle of patience and concentration to force the bowler to bowl where you want him to. Do not play the danger shot that he is trying to lure you into playing.
Look at the players who scored runs in the first Test: Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Lahiru Thirimanne – they had to work so hard for their first 20-30 runs. But when they got in, it became easier; they had the bowlers where they wanted them.
Root did not drive at good-length balls; he stayed back all the time until he got used to the conditions. He only came forward to smother the spin and used his sweep to upset the bowlers’ length. When they dropped the ball short, he cut or pulled off the back foot. The bowlers then over-pitched because they knew if they dropped short he would cut. When they overpitched he said: “Thank you very much,” and played a drive.
When the ball is turning on Asian pitches you only drive when it is so full that it is under your nose, so even if it spins and jumps, it does not make any difference. The clever bit is not to get sucked in to driving at balls on a good length.
That is the mistake Zak Crawley made in both innings. His natural inclination is to attack, which is admirable, but having only one way to bat is a recipe for many failures among a few magnificent successes. Consistency is important for team success and his own individual career.
His first-innings shot, when he tried to hit the left-arm spinner over the top on a turning pitch after scoring only nine runs, was dreadful. It would have been bad enough if he had scored 109. He left England 17 for two. Not smart.
Once you go the aerial route on that sort of pitch the ball only has to stop a touch and you spoon it in the air, or it only has to jump and it hits the splice and lollipops in the air.
The batsmen who scored the most runs showed patience, discipline and did not hit over the top. Root only went over the top when he had scored over 220 and was left batting with the No 11, Stuart Broad.
In the second innings, Crawley tried an expansive push drive off the front foot – another sucker stroke. If he said afterwards “that is the way I play” then he should be dropped until he gets it in his thick head that it is unacceptable. It is just an excuse; he has to learn from these mistakes because you cannot play one way.
His innings in Southampton [267 against Pakistan in the third Test last summer] was wonderful, but that was on that type of surface. This is different from anything he has seen. He also has to learn b----quickly because there is another Test tomorrow. That is what determines whether you can be a great player. Crawley has wonderful talent, but he has to harness it. Has he got a cricket brain? Can he adapt? We shall find out.
Dan Lawrence made a sparkling debut. I loved his batting. He had a big stride forward to get near the ball and smother it, and then lovely transference of weight to rock back when the ball was short of a length.
His only blemish came when he was on 60, as he tried to work the ball against the turn of the legspinner. The ball pitched on the stumps, he nicked it and the wicketkeeper punched it over slip. He did not learn from that. Soon after, he ran down the pitch, stayed leg side and threw the kitchen sink at the ball and was nearly stumped. He was out soon after.
Our coaching staff need to remind Lawrence that sometimes bowlers will get him out cheaply before he gets in, so once you are in do not give it away. You have to go big. As Ken Barrington used to say: “Book in for bed and breakfast.” We are all allowed one mistake, but do not do it again.
Dom Sibley has a lot of good things going for him, but when he plays forward he sometimes stands up with a stiff left knee, which means he is too far away from the pitch of the ball. This becomes much more important when the ball is seaming and swinging around or spinning away from him.
In those conditions it is crucial you get as close as you can to the pitch of the ball. He needs to bend that front knee more, bring his head forward over the knee and over the ball. He must play much straighter towards mid-on, rather than midwicket. He plays across the line of the ball a lot; it is a normal scoring shot for him to work the ball to leg and it works when there is little movement. But once it swings or seams away, or spins away from him, he is going to get himself out because by the time he plays the ball he has closed the face of the bat and is playing with only half a bat, which increases the chances of an edge.
It is elementary to me. Sibley has been with England for over a year now and had three different batting coaches in Jacques Kallis, Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe. Surely one of them could pick it up.
As turning pitches deteriorate you will get unplayable deliveries. But how many got out in the first Test to an unplayable ball? Players get it in their heads they are going to get out to an unplayable ball and get themselves out to a daft shot. Make the bowlers bowl you out.
Have a great defence when you first go in, but be positive if you get a bad ball. Nobody is advocating just sitting on the splice and blocking. But when you first go in, it is about occupying the crease. Then, slowly and surely, it gets easier. Just as Root proved.