Why, then, do England persist with him? The answer is simple enough: Crawley has long been seen as an outlier, with the rare traits of a player whose performance improves with the quality of opposition. As a teenager, he tailored his training to meet the demands of international cricket, working with the renowned Australian batting coach Neil “Noddy” Holder at his academy in, ironically, Perth, and attending spin camps in India. At 21, he was plucked out of county cricket and thrown into a Test squad despite – not because of – his first-class record. He immediately showcased his talent against fast bowling when facing Kagiso Rabada in South Africa, then peeled off 267 against Pakistan the following summer.
