‘He'll be proud of the series he's had’ – Brendon McCullum hails Zak Crawley for impressive Ashes campaign

England’s red-ball head coach Brendon McCullum lavished praise on opener Zak Crawley for his impressive outings in the recently concluded Ashes 2023. Notably, Australia retained the urn, however, England got on level terms in the series following a thrilling win in the fifth and final Test.

It is worth mentioning that Crawley was one among the three players to have featured in each of England’s 18 Test matches under McCullum along with Ben Stokes and Joe Root. Since then, the opener has endured his fair share of struggles and eventually relished a magnificent Ashes 2023, emerging as England’s leading run-getter and the second overall with 480 runs in five matches, lacing it with two fifties and one ton at an average of 53.33.

However, McCullum opened up on Crawley’s campaign as he stated that the batter was ‘under pressure’ prior to the series. The coach further added that the backing he received from his teammates helped him produce invaluable knocks in the five-match series.

"Coming into the series, he (Zak Crawley) was under quite a lot of pressure. The great thing was he was able to block that out as much as possible… you hope that's down to the environment the skipper's trying to create, and the sincere messaging,” McCullum was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

I have seen someone really grow and mature: Brendon McCullum

“480 runs at a strike rate of 90 (88.72), against the best bowling attack in the world, against the Dukes ball, in an Ashes series: people don't do that, you know? I think we've seen someone really grow and mature and really develop over the last six weeks or so. I'm sure he'll be proud of the series he's had and won't get carried away, because that's the type of personality he is,” he added.

Speaking about the series, the Aussies yet again failed to win an Ashes series away from home as their last win came in 2001. On the other hand, despite getting on level terms, England were unable to clinch the series, going unsuccessful since 2015.