Crawley handed lifeline by selectors

Lancashire's 28 year old captain John Crawley has been handed a lifeline by the England selectors. Having been chosen to tour with the A team Crawley has been given the added responsibility of opening the batting. "John has a very good record and we want him to open the batting on tour," announced David Graveney, the chairman of selectors. "He also has experience of touring West Indies with England a few years ago and that will be invaluable."

It did seem as if a world audience might have seen the last of Crawley. After disappointing on the last Ashes tour he admitted to The Cricketer earlier this year that he "wouldn't be at all surprised" if he never represented his country again. Ian Chappell famously urged the selectors to "cut him loose" after criticising "holes in his technique."

That Crawley is one of the most talented batsmen in English cricket is beyond dispute though, and he has worked hard to correct both technical flaws, and lapses in concentration. He averaged over 45 in first class cricket this summer, and it should be remembered that he has three Test centuries to his name already, the last of them against England's opponents this winter, Sri Lanka, at the Oval.

Undaunted by the unsuccessful experiment with Ramprakash, the selectors are keen to mould Crawley as an opening batsman to replace Atherton. Crawley has opened, on and off, throughout his career so perhaps the comparison with Ramprakash is unfair, but it is still controversial in light of the decision to leave Knight and Butcher - both specialist openers with Test centuries to their names - at home. It had seemed that Vaughan and Trescothick were pencilled in to form the next opening pair, so this may prove to be Crawley's last chance to translate his county dominance to the Test arena.

Crawley is positive about the new opportunity, "I enjoy opening," he said. "It's a good challenge in county cricket, particularly with so many of the pitches still being below standard. It seems that England are doing a bit of forward planning, and thinking about long term replacements for Atherton and Stewart, and that could open a door for me."

The real bonus with Crawley is that he can also keep wicket. Although there is no indication that the selectors are considering using him in this role at present he would appear to be an ideal candidate to replace Alec Stewart. It is unlikely that England will ever be able to go back to the days when a wicket keeper didn't play a full part with the bat. If Crawley can fulfil this role it could help avoid difficulties just around the corner as Stewart, at 37, cannot be expected to continue for too much longer.