Zak Crawley insisted last night that England are relishing a nerve-jangling finish to match last summer’s Headingley Ashes thriller on the final day of the First Test against West Indies.
Crawley, only playing in Southampton because of captain Joe Root’s paternity leave, hit 76, his highest score in Test cricket, to help put England in a commanding position on the fourth day. But a collapse of five for 30 in the final session left the hosts on 284 for eight overnight and leading by just 170 as the contest swung back in the balance.
England were involved in a thrilling encounter against Australia in Leeds last summer, when one of the great Test centuries from Ben Stokes, captaining in Root’s absence here, saw them fashion an extraordinarily tense one-wicket win.