Zac Crawley missed the second half of England’s Test summer with a broken finger, but declared himself fit and “back with a new hunger.”
However, it is unclear how well Ben Stokes has recovered from the hamstring tear that forced him to miss the series against Sri Lanka, with the captain only briefly taking part in the team’s first training session in Pakistan. Ta.
Crawley said Stokes “seems to be making a good recovery” but it “remains to be seen” whether he will be available for the series opener in Multan on Monday. “I think he needs to be tested a little bit more,” the opener said. The last official update on his injury came 10 days ago, when the England and Wales Cricket Board issued a carefully worded statement saying he was “on line to play in the upcoming Test series against Pakistan”. said.
After watching the first hour of training from England’s balcony, Stokes sent perhaps a dozen deliveries from two-pace run-ups into the empty nets, did some running drills, and then batted for about 30 minutes. spent.
At this stage it seems unlikely that he will bowl, with less than 24 hours remaining to prove he is fit to play, with a team to be named on Saturday. Ollie Pope can resume his role as stand-in captain if required. He showed it in the match against Sri Lanka. Crawley was not able to pick up a bat until mid-September, but England were sufficiently confident in his ability to return to the top flight that Dan Lawrence, who had substituted against Sri Lanka, was left out of the squad for the match against Pakistan. . “At this stage, there is nothing more to be done,” Crawley said of his injury, which saw him fracture his right pinky finger while fielding at slip in a match against the West Indies in July.
As a precautionary measure, he will not return to the cordon anytime soon, but did have one-on-one catching practice with Brendon McCullum on Friday.
“It was a bad break at that time, but now I’ve recovered well and I don’t feel it at all while I’m hitting,” he said. “I’m not doing too much on set. I’m just trying to give him a break.”
Ben Stokes had only around 12 deliveries in training on Friday with a two-pace run-up. Photo: Anjum Naveed/AP
Crowley spent much of his time away from games watching games on TV, but he returned from his spell on the sideline with renewed motivation. “This shows how much this means to me and how much I love playing for England,” he said. “I certainly came back with a new hunger. I feel so energized. No one wants a timeout and I wouldn’t choose to take a timeout again, but here I am. I definitely got some positive things out of it.”
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That energy is likely to be severely tested, with Multan on Friday offering an unusual contrast to the drenched and frigid conditions in England’s home base of Bristol, where summer ended five days ago. The only time it poured down here was when the batters came on and sweat dripped from their helmets. From the internet. “It’s hot, but practice is much harder than games,” Crowley said. “You’re going to be facing the ball every 15 seconds. That’s the main reason we sweat. In a game every 45 seconds, it’s much easier to control. We’ve all been there before. I’ve played in heat like this before, so I’m not worried about that.”
The benefit, as Crowley says, is that “the more you sweat, the more you reverse swing.” The 26-year-old also took a bright side to the decision to host the first two matches in Multan, as a result of delays in reconstruction work at the stadium in Karachi where the second match was originally scheduled. “I’m very happy because I’m staying in a very good hotel,” he said. “The snooker table, the pool, the golf course, the people are so nice and welcoming. The boys are so happy.”
