Zak Crawley says he is so eager to make a maiden Test century that he “thinks about it all the time”
Crawley is back in the England side for the Second Test against Pakistan having missed the last two games as they played an extra bowler with Ben Stokes unable to bowl – a decision the Kent batsman understood.
Crawley is due to bat No3 when England finally get to start their first innings, hopefully on Sunday after the third day was washed out.
The 22-year-old averages 26 from six Tests, with a top score of 76 at the Ageas Bowl against West Indies earlier this summer. But he admits he needs more runs to nail a place in the side, and knows a century would buy him more time.
“I think about it all the time,” said Crawley. “I pinch myself thinking about scoring a hundred in my room at night. I massively want to score a hundred for England. I don’t want to put myself under pressure, I feel that could create too much pressure as I get closer. I'm trying to score in little sets of 10. No doubt, the first one is probably the hardest to get so I'm very much looking forward to the day I hopefully can get one. There’s a lot of hard work yet.
“I’d love to score enough runs so my position in the side becomes more stable. I probably need some runs in the next few games to cement it a bit more. Each time I go out I want to score good runs and hopefully in a few games time, or longer down the line, my place in the side will be secure and I’ll play for a while.”
This Test summer’s inability to escape the rain continued at the Ageas Bowl. Last week the south was bathed in sunshine as it rained in Manchester, and this week Bob Willis Trophy matches got underway across the north as it rained in the south.
The rain was never heavy and ended around lunchtime. But the outfield was sodden and the light too poor. There did not seem too much desire among players or officials to get the game on, though.
That leaves the chances of a result in the second match of this series, which England lead 1-0, very slim. Just nine wickets have fallen across 86 overs in the first three days. Pakistan are 223 for nine, with Mohammad Rizwan 60 not out.
Only England racking up 400 rapidly or being skittled cheaply could open up the possibility of either side winning.
Crawley said that he understood frustrations over the lack of play, but admitted he had struggled to pick up the ball in flat light on the second evening and was wary that careers could be changed if a batsman was hit by a fast bowler.
"It’s definitely frustrating,” he said. “You always want the game moving forward, especially when I'd like a bat. But I was at deep square when a couple of balls got hit out and I didn't see them at all really. I don't know if anyone else was feeling the same.
“It's a difficult one, if someone cops one on the head because they didn't see the ball in the field or a batsman cops one on the arm and misses the rest of the series, that's life changing differences in their career or their lives.
“It hasn't happened in this game yet but who's to say if we come out and it's dark someone doesn't breaks their arm or get hit in the head by a cricket ball… it’s a difficult balance. It’s not for me to say if it's too dark. It’s the umpire’s responsibility to look after the players.
“I was thinking, if I was batting right now I’d probably want to go off. That's they way you've got to think. As a fielder I was frustrated, you want to keep going, but walking off I was thinking I’d want to take the light if I was batting. You have to look at it from both sides and probably the right decision was made. It was pretty dark.”