Zak Crawley, the opening batsman of the English team, is set to make a comeback in the upcoming Test series against Pakistan, slated to begin on October 3.
Crawley missed out on the ongoing series against Sri Lanka due to a broken finger. However, he’s recovering well and eyes a comeback in the side.
The 26-year-old has established himself as England’s opening batsman. Under the leadership of Ben Stokes, Crawley has averaged 43.8 in 14 Test matches since the start of the 2023 season. If anything, Crawley has opted the bazball approach rightly and shown significant improvement in the longest format of the game.
But the inclusion of Zak may be a concerning sign of Dan Lawrence. Lawrence was asked to replace injured Crawley but his performances were underwhelming.
In the two Test matches against Sri Lanka, the batter has amassed just 80 runs at an average of just 20. This series is seen as crucial for Lawrence who struggled to cement his place. It is yet to be seen how he will perform in the third and last test against Sri Lanka.
The English side have also underutilized the off spin of the player and if anything, the whole scenario describes his place to be uncertain for the tour against Pakistan. Besides Crawley, the spinner Jack Leach is also eyeing a comeback. Leach has struggled to be consistent for his side by the virtue of injuries and fitness concerns.
Nevertheless, he has shown a string of great performances in the County Championship which makes him a candidate for the English side when they tour Pakistan.
It won’t be easy for Leach to impress the selectors as Shoaib Bashir has shown great performances in his absence. And this is something that Leach has also admitted.
I totally understand the reason why Bash has been selected,” Leach said. “I rate him really highly and think he is already a very good bowler with a lot of promise for the future. We have worked together a lot, and I am very proud of him and want to see him flourish. But there is a tour to Pakistan coming up and if England needs me, I am more than happy to go.”
“I would imagine they will take more than one spinner, and I feel I am getting back to my best after almost a year with niggles that have taken some overcoming. You don’t always realize how hard it is to come back from injuries,” he said.
It is eminent to mention that the third test of the series against Sri Lanka will take place on 6th September, the home side has a 2-0 lead in the series.
After the conclusion of the series, the side will face their arch-rivals Australia in a three-match T20I and five-match ODI series from September 11-29.
And after that England will travel to Pakistan to partake in a three-match Test series scheduled to begin from 7th October.
