Zak Crawley, who will be captaining England for the first time in the one-day series against Ireland, has stated that he intends to “lead from the front” during the match.
Crawley will be in charge of a group that includes four players who have never competed for their country before. Almost the whole World Cup squad has been given time off.
On Wednesday, the first game of the three-game series will take place at Joe Root’s home field of Headingley. Root is expected to participate in the match.
“It will be a huge assist to my captaincy if I am able to score runs and field well. Crawley responded by saying, “That is undeniably on my mind.”
Crawley, 25, is an opening batter for Kent and has played 39 Tests for England. However, he has not cracked into a very strong white-ball team for England, as they are the current world champions in both limited-overs forms.
His only previous three one-day caps were against Pakistan in 2021 as part of a completely new team. This was because the first party had to be ruled out due to a Covid outbreak. His only previous one-day cap came against Pakistan.
Now, he is in control of a party that includes four players who have not yet earned a cap for their country. These players are George Scrimshaw, a pace bowler for Derbyshire, Jamie Smith, a wicketkeeper and batter for Surrey, Sam Hain, a batter for Warwickshire, and Tom Hartley, a left-arm spinner for Lancashire.
If the players involved have a successful match against the Irish, there is a possibility that they would be requested to be on standby for the World Cup, which will begin on October 5 in India.
“We all know how this England white-ball team has played over the past eight years,” Crawley said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“We are aware of how to break into the main team, and it involves being aggressive and demonstrating to others the skills and qualities that you possess. This week, each of us ought to make an effort to accomplish that.”
Crawley was previously in charge of Kent in two matches for the County Championship and two contests for the Twenty20 Blast.
He stated that he will rely heavily on former Test captain Root, who is hoping to find some form after scoring only 39 runs across four innings during the series victory against New Zealand (3-1), which He felt they won.
“To have him in the side as a batsman and former captain is going to be tremendously useful for me and the team,” said Crawley. “I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Because Joe puts forth more effort than anyone else, he is in a class of his own. Everyone here strives to be as much like him as they possibly can. He is an outstanding individual to get wisdom from, and he serves as an example for each of us.
When England and Ireland competed against each other in a one-off test match at Lord’s in June, Ireland was defeated by England by a score of 10 wickets.
Since failing to qualify for the World Cup at the qualification tournament held in Zimbabwe in July, they have not participated in any one-day international matches of cricket.
They did, however, win their most recent ODI against England, which was the last match of England’s 2-1 series win played in 2020 under the constraints of COVID.
“Everyone is really buzzing to get out there and show what they are capable of,” said Paul Stirling, the captain of the Ireland team.
“England is an extremely powerful squad. There is a justifiable explanation for why they are considered to be one of the top teams in the world. We should take advantage of this chance.”
