Ashes 2021-22: I Know Full Well I Can Score A Hundred This Week - Zak Crawley Ahead Of SCG Test

England’s top-order batter Zak Crawley has resonated confidence ahead of the SCG Test against Australia, claiming that he plans to play without fear and is keen on getting a big score.

Apart from Joe Root and Dawid Malan, the batting has been woeful from England’s side. They are quite clueless against Pat Cummins and co. and it doesn’t look like the result will change. However, Crawley insisted that batting is quite easy once you get your eye in.

“Just not fearing them. I feel like quite a few of us on our first Ashes tour maybe we were a bit wary of them when there’s no need to be. It’s a great place to bat even though they are great bowlers, some of them are the best in the world.”

“But when you get in as Rooty [Joe Root] and [Dawid] Malan have shown, they look very comfortable at times. I’m certainly going to do that this game, [play with a] bit more confidence because I know full well that I can score a hundred here this week,” Crawley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

We’ve got the talent to score big runs in Test cricket – Zak Crawley

In the last year, Root scored almost three times the amount of runs as the next highest scorer [Rory Burns]. He single-handedly put England in good positions but in a team sport like cricket, other batters need to step up.

“I learned that there were certain balls [in Melbourne] I could leave where in England you have to play and I’ll try and do that better this week. It’s a great chance to start again and build up the side into a better place. Everyone has seen the talent that our batters have shown over the last few years.”

“We’ve all got the talent to score big runs in Test cricket, you just have to get in the right headspace to perform like that. Feel like that’s where we’ve gone slightly wrong, haven’t been in the right headspace, but physically and talent-wise there’s no question that we can score big hundreds over here,” Crawley added.

As far as the surfaces are concerned, it was flat in the first three Tests and Crawley hoped to find a ‘flatter’ wicket at the SCG.

“I’m hoping it will be a slightly flatter wicket here [Sydney, for the fourth Test], it usually is, [Melbourne] offered quite a bit. I learned that there were certain balls I could leave where in England you have to play and I’ll try and do that better this week. It’s great chance to start again and build up the side into a better place,” he concluded.

The fourth Ashes Test begins in Sydney on January 5. Australia leads the series 3-0.

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