Zak Crawley admitted his own “high standards” means he puts pressure on himself for his England spot.
Crawley has long divided opinion as he possesses an underwhelming average of 31.4 from 58 Tests, with several dramatic fallow periods, but he has been backed to the hilt by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
The patience has occasionally been rewarded and was on day two of the fourth Rothesay Test against India, where Crawley and Ben Duckett put on a buccaneering 166 in 32 overs at Emirates Old Trafford.
After helping England close on 225 for two in response to India’s 358 all out, Crawley, who was dismissed for 84 at a ground where he made 189 in the 2023 Ashes, said: “I have high standards for myself and I work very hard on my game.
“I always want more from myself and I’ve certainly wanted more for myself than I’ve got in the last year or so. That’s just an internal thing, I don’t feel that pressure from anyone else.
“I just feel like I owe it to myself to have a few more good performances. Days like this make the practice and the tougher times worth it a bit more.
“I certainly feel at my best when my body is relaxed. I managed to do that quite well here.
“I wanted more runs but I feel like I worked hard and earned those runs. I don’t think I’ve ever got out in my life and not been annoyed and I was certainly annoyed (after getting out).”
Crawley and Duckett, who was also unable to get to a hundred after nicking off on 94, put England in the box seat just over a week on from being front and centre of a time-wasting row at Lord’s.
India captain Shubman Gill accused England of contravening the “spirit of the game”, insisting England’s openers arrived to the crease 90 seconds late in a testy seven-minute passage at the end of day three that hung over the rest of the third Test.
But Crawley said: “I sit in my spot until the umpires go out, I saw them go out and I walked out. I wasn’t aware we were 90 seconds late. I didn’t think too much about that at the time or even now.
“I’ve always enjoyed that part of cricket, especially when you’re batting where it’s two against 11 and they’re desperate to get you out and chirping you.
“Most of the time I probably let it slide but most of the time, I feel like it’s a good chance to put it back on them. At Lord’s, I loved that little passage. No one stepped over the line, it was just competitive cricket, I really enjoyed it.”
Ben Stokes claimed his first Test five-wicket haul since September 2017 to restrict India, who were remarkably able to call upon Rishabh Pant despite him suffering a serious injury to his right foot.
Less than 24 hours after retiring hurt on 37 and being taken off the field on a golf buggy, Pant resumed his innings although substitute fielder Dhruv Jurel is taking on wicketkeeper duties for the rest of the Test.
Amid a suspected broken metatarsal – India have not publicly confirmed the severity of his injury – Pant limped every time he moved forward before being bowled for 54 by Jofra Archer, who claimed three for 73.
India all-rounder Shardul Thakur said: “We have seen him doing a lot of amazing things. And this was just another amazing thing that he did for the team.
“His pain bearing capacity is very high. If he is in pain, it is a big injury.”
