"This is my best innings," says England's Crawley on his century against Australia in 4th Test
Jul 23, 2023
Manchester [UK], July 24 : After Australia retained the Ashes urn following a draw in the fourth Test at Manchester, England batter Zak Crawley termed his century as his "best and favourite".
Australia retained the Ashes after rain completely ruled out play on the fifth day of the fourth test match on Sunday at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Australia were leading the series by 2-1 and the rain prevented the play on the final two days of the Test, which resulted in a draw.
"We were in a really good position to win but the weather ruined it. We will go on to the next one and hope to win. We played a lot of good cricket on Day 3 and even yesterday but the rain cost us. We played really really well as a team. I would say this is my best innings, it’s my favourite one. I felt in good touch, I knew a score was coming if I stuck with the process," said Crawley in the post-match presentation. He was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his century.
"I have not been stuck at one end against quality bowling, they have not had a chance to set me up. I have tried to take a few more singles and get boundaries when I get going. I take a lot of confidence, every bowler I have faced from their side has been high quality. Duckett (Ben Duckett) is a phenomenal player, seen him score a lot of runs. We are very different so it works quite well. Every game is massively important for us, we keep building," he added.
Australia ended the Test at 214/5, with Cameron Green (3*) and Mitchell Marsh (31*) unbeaten. Labuschagne smashed his second century away from home, scoring 111 in 173 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. They trailed England by 61 runs. No action could happen on day five. England needed five wickets to keep the Ashes alive and defeat the Aussies by an innings, but it did not happen.
Earlier, in reply to Australia's 317 in the first innings, England had scored 592 runs in their first innings. They had gained a lead of 275 runs.
Australia became a victim of some heavy hitting from the host's top seven batters. Zak Crawley (189 in 182 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes) led the attack with his maiden Ashes ton.
Moeen Ali (54 in 82 balls, with seven fours), Joe Root (84 in 95 balls with eight fours and a six), Harry Brook (61 in 100 balls, with five fours), skipper Ben Stokes (51 in 74 balls with five fours) and Jonny Bairstow (99* in 81 balls with 10 fours and four sixes) played impactful knocks.
Besides Josh Hazlewood's five-wicket haul, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green took two wickets each while Pat Cummins got one.
After opting to field first, England bundled out Australia for 317 in the first innings.
Marnus Labuschagne (51), Mitchell Marsh (51), Steve Smith (41), Travis Head (48) and Mitchell Starc (36) played some vital knocks for the Aussies.
Chris Woakes (5/62), Stuart Broad (2/68) and James Anderson (1/51) impressed with the ball for England.
