The Ashes: Nasser Hussain says 'class act' Zak Crawley deserves run in England side after starring at SCG

Nasser Hussain says "class act" Zak Crawley showed he should get a long run as an England opener after a fluent fifty on day five of the drawn Ashes Test in Sydney.

Crawley (77 from 100 balls) amassed 13 boundaries in his fifth Test half-century. It was the first by an England opener in this Ashes series.

The Kent star, 23, averaged a lowly 10.81 from eight Test matches in 2021 - looking a shadow of the player who had scored 267 against Pakistan in Southampton in August 2020.

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But Crawley said before the fourth Test at the SCG that he "knew full well" he could score a hundred and fell just 23 runs short during an authoritative knock.

Sky Sports Cricket expert and former England captain Hussain said: "I think Crawley has been the highlight of the Test match for me.

"To watch him play with such fluency and a simple technique, put away the bad ball and put the pressure back on the Australia bowlers [was fantastic]. It's something that has not been there at the top of the order.

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"Dom Sibley, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed look to defend and occasionally they miss out on the balls they can score off, so England end up going nowhere.

"Crawley looks like he is in a position to attack first and I think that puts you in a better position technically and mentally to put away the bad ball.

"Crawley's technique was sound and his timing off the bat was exquisite. He got in such good positions. I also liked his talk before the game and he backed it up by walking the walk.

"For England fans who have stayed up night after night watching us plod to 20-3, it would have been a great bonus watching that Crawley innings.

"Crawley had an awful 2021 but he reminded everyone what a class act he can be and that he is someone worth sticking with for the future. Zak now has to bat like that virtually every time he goes out to bat.

"He will know his returns last year weren't good enough. The 267 he got at The Ageas Bowl a couple of years was phenomenal.

"Even his previous fifty in Test cricket [against India in Ahmedabad last February] impressed some really good observers. That was a 'wow' innings.

"And, in Sydney, people like [former Australia batters] Mark Waugh and Mark Taylor have been saying 'wow, where has this lad been?'

"He just has to make sure he goes again in Hobart in the fifth Test, gets another score and keeps ticking over. The way he has played at the SCG, he has got to get a run in the side."

Atherton: Crawley has presence, ammunition

Hussain's fellow pundit and former England skipper Michael Atherton said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: "Crawley has presence at the crease.

"He is obviously a tall lad, physically imposing, but if the bowlers err he also has some ammunition in his locker and he can put the pressure back on.

"I thought he drove the ball nicely and when the bowlers pulled their length back he pulled well, too.

"I think there are areas he can tighten up - you see a lot of his right side and that sometimes means the bat comes across the ball.

"But if I was a bowler I would be more concerned bowling to Crawley than Hameed, as I know if I get it wrong I am going to be punished."

'England showed a lot of character'

The half-centuries by Crawley and Ben Stokes (60), a gritty 41 from first-innings centurion Jonny Bairstow (41), and then resistance from tailenders Jack Leach (26), Stuart Broad (8no) and James Anderson (0no) saw England stave off defeat and end Australia's hopes of a series sweep.

Hussain said the gripping finale in Sydney was "Test cricket at its best" and that England should take a lot of heart from the result after seeing a number of players sustain injuries and head coach Chris Silverwood miss the match due to Covid isolation.

He told Sky Sports News: "It's not just celebrating a draw but celebrating Test cricket. Five days of hard grind and hard work. You had two veterans in Anderson and Broad with over 300 Tests between them trying to keep out a part-time spinner in Steve Smith. It was Test cricket at its best

"With everything England have been through - Silverwood and various other coaches hit by Covid, the injuries to Stokes, Jos Buttler and Bairstow - I thought England showed a lot of character.

"They play more Test cricket than anyone else and have lived in Covid bubbles. It has been a tough tour mentally and now a tough tour physically.

"You often take too much from draws where you are hanging on nine down but out of this one, I think England can take a lot of credit.

"Australia played great cricket but England toughed it out and avoided the dreaded whitewash."

What should England do in Hobart?

Buttler will miss the fifth Test in Hobart from Friday due to a finger injury, with Sam Billings looking likely to make his Test debut as replacement wicketkeeper - despite Ollie Pope deputising admirably for Buttler in the second innings in Sydney Test and taking four catches.

Stokes (side) and Bairstow (thumb) are also doubts for the pink-ball game at Blundstone Arena, though will travel with the side before a decision is made on their participation.

Hussain added: "England are going to have to wait and see on Stokes. When he was playing certain shots like the cut shot, he was grimacing.

"It's one thing carrying on in a game, but I'm not sure you can go into a game injured. That would be too much of a risk. He certainly can't bowl so that affects the balance of the side.

"England have a number of options in the middle order and with the gloves in Billings and Pope. Up top, Hameed looks a little bit shot and short of runs."