Ah, so much to love. If anyone bowled on John Crawley's legs, he'd put them away for four every single time, with the absolute minimum of fuss. He was the unequivocal master of the leg glance. Stick two men, three men, four men out on the leg side - whatever, he'd pick the gap. If they bowled anywhere outside off, he either left it, blocked it or got out. Never has there been a batsman with such a specific skill set.
Having started badly against South Africa, he came into the '94 Ashes side. The Aussies hadn't seen much of him and in the Third Test at Sydney he made a pair of 70s, all exclusively scored with the leg glance. Channel 9 showed his wagon wheel. It looked like a bicycle wheel with one spoke. The Aussies cottoned on, bowled everything outside off stump, and he barely scored a run.
In 1998 he was back in the team to play Sri Lanka. Muralitharan was at his peak. He'd not yet mastered the doosra, but his off break spun like a top. With the exception of Graeme Hick, no one else could get near him. There was only one shot you could play with the ball turning like into you that: the leg glance. So that's all Crawley did. He hit 156, almost entirely off his pads, and all in a losing cause. But then he was forced to play Australia again, who bowled outside off stump all the time, and that was that. Back to county cricket, where he suddenly looked a different player.
So much to love, so much redolent of 90s England cricket. He couldn't field for toffee. He was much fatter than a man his build should be. There was the lingering suspicion he was only in the team because he was the skipper's mate from school. The sight of him smoking a fag on the Lord's balcony. The entirely-predictable nickname ('Creepy').
But above all, the vital lesson: if you can do one thing well enough, it can take you a surprisingly long way.
Having started badly against South Africa, he came into the '94 Ashes side. The Aussies hadn't seen much of him and in the Third Test at Sydney he made a pair of 70s, all exclusively scored with the leg glance. Channel 9 showed his wagon wheel. It looked like a bicycle wheel with one spoke. The Aussies cottoned on, bowled everything outside off stump, and he barely scored a run.
In 1998 he was back in the team to play Sri Lanka. Muralitharan was at his peak. He'd not yet mastered the doosra, but his off break spun like a top. With the exception of Graeme Hick, no one else could get near him. There was only one shot you could play with the ball turning like into you that: the leg glance. So that's all Crawley did. He hit 156, almost entirely off his pads, and all in a losing cause. But then he was forced to play Australia again, who bowled outside off stump all the time, and that was that. Back to county cricket, where he suddenly looked a different player.
So much to love, so much redolent of 90s England cricket. He couldn't field for toffee. He was much fatter than a man his build should be. There was the lingering suspicion he was only in the team because he was the skipper's mate from school. The sight of him smoking a fag on the Lord's balcony. The entirely-predictable nickname ('Creepy').
But above all, the vital lesson: if you can do one thing well enough, it can take you a surprisingly long way.
I'm like the brankrupt man's anti-Crawley.
ReplyDelete"If anyone bowled slowly outside off, Marrow would cut them away about 1 in 3 times, with quite a lot of fuss"
"Being village cricket, naturally sides would not have a plan for Marrow until his own team informed the opposition about where they should bowl, in an attempt to bring down his average"
ReplyDelete(see "The first rule of friendly cricket")
Not at all, I think in technical terms you're more like Sehwag. Just plying his trade at a slightly lower level.
ReplyDelete