On the eve of this Fourth Test, Ben Stokes offered a succinct reminder of England’s selection policy: “We pick teams and players for what they can do on their best days.” Yesterday, without doubt, was Zak Crawley’s finest yet.
True, there was the double-hundred against Pakistan three summers ago, increasingly used to mock the opener as much as make his case, a score of 267 doing more to raise his average than Sir Ian McKellen would the mean age of the England midfield. But that innings came in front of no crowd at the Ageas Bowl and in a contest that holds no flame to a must-win Ashes duel.
