Crawley looks to lead England ‘from the front’

Zak Crawley will captain England in only his fourth ODIVenue: Headingley Date: 20 September Time: 12:30 BSTCoverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website. Highlights on BBC Two at 23:15 BST, 00:15 in Northern IrelandZak Crawley says he wants to “lead from the front” when he captains England for the first time in the one-day series against Ireland.With almost the entire World Cup squad rested, Crawley takes charge of a group containing four uncapped players.Joe Root is set to play in the opener to the three-match series, on his home ground of Headingley on Wednesday.”If I can get runs and field well, that will help my captaincy a lot. That’s definitely on my mind,” said Crawley.Kent opening batter Crawley, 25, has played 39 Tests for England but has not broken into a very strong white-ball team who are world champions in both limited-overs formats.His only previous three one-day caps came against Pakistan in 2021 as part of an entirely new squad after the initial party was ruled out because of a Covid outbreak.Now he is charge of a party containing the uncapped quartet of Derbyshire pace bowler George Scrimshaw, Surrey wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, Warwickshire batter Sam Hain and Lancashire left-arm spinner Tom Hartley.Strong performances against the Irish could lead to the players involved being asked to be on standby for the World Cup in India, which begins on 5 October.”We all know how this England white-ball team has played over the past eight years,” Crawley told BBC Sport.”We know how to get into the main team, it’s by being aggressive, showing people what skill and quality you have. That’s what we should all try to do this week.”Crawley has previously led Kent in two County Championship matches and two games in the T20 Blast.He said he will lean on former Test captain Root, who is looking to find some form after managing only 39 runs in four innings during the 3-1 series win against New Zealand.”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.”No-one works harder than Joe, that’s why he’s the best. We all try to emulate him as much as we can. He’s a great person to learn from and a role model for us all.”Ireland were beaten by 10 wickets when they met England in a one-off Test at Lord’s in June.They have not played any ODI cricket since failing to reach the World Cup at the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in July.They did, however, win their last ODI against England, the final match of England’s 2-1 series win played under Covid restrictions in 2020.”Everyone is really buzzing to get out there and show what they are capable of,” said Ireland captain Paul Stirling.”England are such a strong team. There is a reason why they are one of the best teams in the world. It’s a good opportunity for us.”

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