Zak Crawley rides his luck but proves critics wrong

England’s openers, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, could hardly have dreamt of better circumstances to ease themselves into the Test summer. The sun was out, the pitch was true, Ireland’s attack was as green as the outfield, and England’s bowlers had done the hard work. The summer can only get more challenging from here.

This was hardly Rawalpindi, when the pair both smashed hundreds when sharing 233 in 35.4 overs. But they had their fun in the sun, rattling along at more than six an over to reach stumps just 20 behind for the loss of just Crawley. Ollie Pope got involved, too, ghosting his way to 29 before anyone had noticed.

“They were positive, aggressive, playing exactly the way Brendon [McCullum] and Ben [Stokes] want them to,” said Stuart Broad.

It took until the 10th for Ireland to bowl an over without a boundary, and England had already flatbed 24 of them by stumps. With that platform, a Rawalpindi-esque score – it was 657 there – may not be beyond England, if they want it. “You never know with Ben,” said Broad with a smile, knowing you can never rule out a declaration.

As Broad’s comment shows, what England want these days flips convention on its head. And so it is with their openers, especially Crawley. He played an innings that lasted just 45 balls, but can be used to reinforce whichever side of the fierce argument that surrounds his place.

On the one hand (let’s call it the England view), it was a punchy cameo studded with attractive strokes, that hammered home his advantage. Look in the book, and it will say 56 in an opening partnership of 109, which suited England just fine. Some of those shots – take the back-foot drive, on tiptoes, through extra-cover in the second ball of the innings, or the pair of beautiful drives – were top-class. Crawley looked confident, as evidenced by a fine catch at second slip in the morning session off Broad, the sort he does not take when he clams up.

Brendon McCullum said as much in an interview with Sky on Thursday, arguing that, as players, there were actually similarities between himself and Crawley, in that both have stronger offensive games than defensive, and that retreating into a bunker does them no favours. He said they wanted Crawley to “chase moments”.

Crawley’s troubles were caused when he went too hard at the ball

On the other hand (what Crawley might call the “average punter” view) were the three big inside edges in the space of six deliveries that skimmed past his stumps for four when they could so easily have cannoned into them. Crawley laughed, knowing the luck was not with the Irish. Crawley’s troubles here were caused every time he went too hard at the ball, with hard hands leaving him vulnerable to even the slightest movement. When he calmed down, he found the middle of the bat.

There is nothing wrong with a little luck, but his eventual demise was soft, patting back to Fionn Hand, who, by clinging on to  beat Josh Tongue to a maiden Test wicket in the battle of the body parts. He left with no complaints.

Crawley’s place is safe, and this is what England want from him. Their view is that there is no opener banging down the door in county cricket who would fit their style of play; the selection of Dan Lawrence, Essex’s No4, as a spare opener in recent squads suggests just that.

The unusual blend provided by his partnership with Duckett, a more consistent provider of runs, helps Crawley’s case. One is left-handed and stocky, playing predominantly with his bottom hand, shovelling the ball. The other is a rangy right-hander, stroking the ball. “I love that dynamic,” said Broad. “It is really difficult for any bowler to bowl at, when you have to bowl so differently to each of them.”

In his first home Test, Duckett appeared to especially benefit from that here, with Ireland providing him with the sort of width he just devours. Having made a Championship hundred on this ground in April, he looked comfortable, and punished Ireland every time they strayed in a chanceless knock that showed his basic cricket smarts, too. As stumps drew nearer, he would smoke a boundary, watch the fielder go back, then ease a single.

Ease his way into the summer? Duckett has given himself the opportunity for much more.