Former England skipper Michael Atherton feels Zak Crawley has made big strides as an opener in the Ashes 2023. Crawley has impressed with his game throughout the Ashes against Australia and has given a solid foundation to the team.

The lanky batter scored a fine knock of 73 runs off just 76 balls in the second innings of the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Kennington Oval, London. After Australia took a 12-run lead, England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley gave a quick start to the team.

The openers added 79 runs for the opening alliance and both of them scored at a good rate. Crawley had also played a majestic knock of 189 runs off just 182 balls in the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester.

The right-hander has scored 480 runs in nine innings of the Ashes 2023 at an impressive average of 53.33.

“Zak Crawley has played absolutely beautifully. He has had a terrific series – the top run-scorer now,” Atherton said while talking to Sky Sports during Day 3’s play at The Oval.

“And it has been a very consistent series too – just a couple of single-figure scores… and that was one of the features of his batting prior to this series, the run of low scores he was getting,” Atherton further added.

Crawley scored his runs at a strike rate of 88.72 and took an aggressive approach against the Australian bowlers. In fact, Crawley had also smashed the first ball of the series to a boundary to announce that England will back their Bazball approach.

“He has made big strides as an opener in this series – and he has made his runs attractively, scoring at a rapid click,” Atherton said.

Crawley was consistent for England and he will look to carry the good show. At stumps on Day three, England were in a dominating position at 389-9, leading by 377 runs.