Root, Crawley, and the treasure of tempered instincts

Australia were livewires in the field on the opening day of the pink-ball Test at Gabba. Josh Inglis, a wicketkeeper by vocation, had a single stump to aim at from a square-on position and managed to hit the bull’s eye with his sidearm throw to run out Ben Stokes. Alex Carey sprinted backwards and took an amazing catch over his shoulder, despite fellow pursuer Marnus Labushcagne being in the vicinity. His stumping attempt against Harry Brook was equally remarkable, for the batter had blinded him by shaping up for a ramp. His collection was based on sheer instinct as to how much the ball would bounce and where possibly his gloves need to be in accordance with the line of the delivery. For Zac Crawley and Joe Root as well, balancing their instincts held the key to much-needed success.

The England opener belongs to the cadre of frustratingly fascinating batters, like Litton Das, KL Rahul, or Aiden Markram. All of them have enormous talent and a stratospheric ceiling, which explains the long rope they are offered even when the runs dry up. Crawley was on a pair coming into Brisbane, having fallen to Mitchell Starc in the very first over of each innings at Perth. His natural game is see-ball hit-ball, rendering him one of the poster boys of the BazBall revolution. Although in the Ashes opener, his own propensity to throw his hands at the ball had consigned England to false starts. The high-risk high-reward approach is fine by his team, in fact they swear by it, but two ducks in a row force even the biggest adventure junkie to do some soul-searching. For Crawley, it meant vigilance outside the off-stump.

He left alone 26% balls at the time of reaching his 50 – the highest share for him at that point in 18 such scores ever since Brendon McCullum took charge in June 2022 to reboot the way England play their cricket. Deliveries in his range got the full monty, be it the spanking cover drive to Mitchell Starc early on or the whip to Scott Boland from outside off, but there was a conscious effort to cherrypick the right avenues. When Australia’s pacemen strayed into his arc, he backed his natural game to the hilt, even taking the aerial route at times during the 117-run partnership with Root that resurrected England’s innings from a precarious 5/2.

‘’I was just trying to keep it simple, just trying to score straight on the leg side, and then if it was really full, maybe on the off side. Yeah, I was happy with my knock.” Crawley expressed.

“I had a clear plan and I stuck to it. There were still a couple of loose shots in there, as I tend to do, but got away with them, and I played nicely down the ground as well. By trying to score on the leg side, that made me leave a bit better outside off with the extra bounce today, and then when I got in, the ball started doing a bit less.”

A dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist in the first half of his career, Root has also bought into the BazBall philosophy, much to the chagrin of pundits whose voices shriek when he perishes attempting a reverse scoop. He was lambasted for his unorthodox shot selection in Rajkot versus India as his dismissal saw England lose their last five wickets in just 38 deliveries. Australia’s attack was lacking the spite of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – 604 Test scalps between them – moreover Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser are wet behind the ears at the international stage. Root knew discipline won’t be a consistent theme in their operation, so much like Crawley, he recalibrated his game to his individual basics. High elbow, head right on top of the ball, textbook cricketing shots, busy in the middle.

While Neser induced the most errors from the England batters alongside Starc, the trio of Boland, Cameron Green and Doggett gave away 206 runs in 43 overs combined, each returning an economy of five and thereabouts. With the wealth of experience Root possesses, his hunch was bang on.

Green provided a microcosm of the lack of sustained pressure on England as late shape on his half-volley sucked Root into the drive only to beat him all ends up, alas such a gem was soon followed by a freebie down leg as Crawley helped himself to four facile runs. The pink ball began showing its wicked side under the lights but by then, Root’s technical masterclass had survived the nervous nineties and Jofra Archer brought out the fireworks in celebration of his senior pro’s maiden ton in Australia.

Their stand worth 61* off 44 balls is the highest tenth wicket partnership in a day-night Test surpassing 59 between Tom Blundell and Blair Tickner in Mount Maunganui in 2023. Therein, ultimately, the weapons in Root’s kitty that were more in line with BazBall came out, with Boland going the distance over third man as the centurion’s flipped stance and perfect execution turned the Barmy Army into a vociferous lot.

Australia can get on a roll quickly if given a chance, as evidenced by the triple whammy late in the day that bumped up Starc’s tally to six. Thus, the stabilization that Root and Crawley offered in the first session was of paramount importance. ‘’He’s the best player I’ve ever played with, or probably against as well. And he’s a champion bloke. I’m chuffed to bits for him,” Crawley said, after Root’s 40th Test hundred.

About his own return to form? “I have been working all week to be honest, trying to stay calm in the nets and just move slowly and pick my bat up lightly, and those things seemed to come off.” Crawley highlighted. As the famous quote by Leonard Cohen from the poem A Thousand Kisses Deep goes, ‘’You lose your grip, and then you slip, into the masterpiece.’’