Zak Crawley scores double hundred, third-youngest man to milestone for England in Test cricket
Crawley enters the Z-list after A-list performance...
Sunday 23 August 2020 12:43, UK
Zak Crawley became the third-youngest man to hit a Test double century for England as he he entered cricket's record books.
Crawley achieved the feat at 22 years and 201 days against Pakistan, placing him behind only Sir Len Hutton (22 years and 58 days) and David Gower (22 years and 102 days) in terms of age.
Only four batsmen in history have passed 250 in Tests at a more tender age than Crawley - West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers, Australia's Sir Don Bradman, Hutton and South Africa's Graeme Smith
Crawley is the fifth England batsman to score a double hundred against Pakistan, following in the footsteps of Ted Dexter, Denis Compton, Sir Alastair Cook and current captain Joe Root.
Plus, the Kent player is the seventh England batsman to turn a maiden Test hundred into a double ton.
Crawley's mentor and Sky Sports Cricket expert Rob Key is on that list having made 221 against West Indies at Lord's in 2004, while David "Bumble" Lloyd is also one of the seven, with his first Test century an unbeaten 214 against India at Edgbaston in 1974.
Only Wally Hammond has hit a higher score as an England No 3 than Crawley - an unbeaten 336 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1933 - while only Tip Foster scored a larger maiden hundred, with his 287 against Australia in Sydney in 1903.
Crawley's sensational innings - just his fourth first-class hundred - took his Test average from 28.54 to 48.41, while Sky Sports Cricket statistician Benedict Bermange has also come up with this gem...
"Zak Crawley is the first player with his first forename starting with Z to score a Test century. Zaheer Abbas was actually Syed Zaheer Abbas and Zin Harris was actually named Parke Gerald Zinzan Harris!"
Watch day three of the third and final #raisethebat Test between England and Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.30am on Sunday.
