England opener Zak Crawley has shrugged off India captain Shubman Gill’s ‘Spirit of Cricket’ remarks after accusing him and Ben Duckett of taking an extra 90 seconds to walk out to bat with six minutes of play left on Day 3 of the Lord’s Test.
“The English batsmen on that day had seven minutes of play left. They were 90 seconds late to come to the crease. Not 10, not 20 – 90 seconds late. Yes, most teams [do] this, in that position we would have also liked to play less overs, but there is a manner to do it,” Gill referred to the incident in which he had animatedly asked Crawley to “grow some f***ing balls”.
“Yes, if you get hit on your body the physios are allowed to come on and that is something that is fair, but to be able to come 90 seconds late to the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game, and just leading up to that event a lot of things that we thought should not have happened, they happened,” Gill had told reporters ahead of the Manchester Test on Tuesday.
‘Loved that 8-minute passage’
Defending his stance after thwarting the Indian bowlers with his rapid 84 off 113 deliveries on Thursday, Crawley said: “No, no. Not at all. I sit in my spot [in the dressing room] until the umpires go out. I saw the umpires go, and I walked out. I wasn’t aware that we were 90 seconds late, but fair enough.”
Crawley said such high-intensity banter and sledging generally excited him while he’s out at the crease. “I’ve always enjoyed that part of cricket, to be honest, especially when you’re batting,” he said. “There’s two of you against eleven and they’re desperate to get you out, and they’re chirping you.
“Most of the time, I’d probably let it slide, and then other times, I feel like it’s a good chance to put it back on them. I loved that little eight-minute passage. No-one stepped over the line. I thought everyone was in good spirits. It was just competitive cricket, and I really enjoyed it.”
Crawley’s 31.40 Test average doesn’t vouch for great reading after 105 innings. However, the 27-year-old has insisted that he puts in the hard yards on firming up his game.
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“I have high standards for myself, and I work very hard in my game,” he said. “I always want more for myself, and I’ve certainly wanted more for myself than I’ve got in the last year or so. That’s just an internal thing. I don’t feel that pressure from anyone else.
“I just feel like I owe it to myself to have a few more good performances. Days like today make the practice and the tougher times worth it a bit more. Obviously, I wanted more runs today, but I feel like I’ve worked hard and earned those runs.”
