Cricket-England's Crawley aiming for white-ball role

FILE PHOTO: Cricket – Fifth Test – India v England – Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, India – March 7, 2024 England’s Zak Crawley in action REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

(Reuters) – Zak Crawley is aiming to secure a more regular role in England’s white-ball teams after establishing himself in the test side under skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Test opener Crawley has scored over 1,000 runs in 13 matches since the start of 2023, playing with an attacking, aggressive style that has often helped his team get off to quick starts.

His test form has led to calls for his inclusion in the white-ball teams, but the 26-year-old was left out of England’s squads for last year’s 50-overs World Cup and the Twenty20 edition next month.

“I’ve always wanted to be a good white-ball player,” Crawley, who has played eight one-day internationals and no T20Is for England, told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

“I’m trying to add a few other shots to my game, but I feel like it’s quite suited and I’ve gone well in T20 cricket in the past when I’ve had a run at it.”

Crawley said much of his focus had been on test cricket in recent years.

“It was always my priority for me to play test cricket,” he added. “That will always be my number one format – it means the most to me – but playing any format for England is a huge honour and playing white-ball cricket is something I really want to do.

“I’m trying to add a bit more power to my game, I’m working hard in the nets trying a few different things to hopefully hit more and bigger sixes.”

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)