John Crawley
Encyclopedia
John Paul Crawley is a retired English
professional cricket
er, who represented England in 37 Test matches
. He is regarded alongside his near contemporaries Graeme Hick
and Mark Ramprakash
as a hugely talented player who failed to realise his full potential at international level.
Crawley is a right-handed batsman
, and an occasional wicket-keeper
. His main strengths are his batting against spin bowling
and his leg side
stroke play.
where he broke a number of batting records previously held by Michael Atherton. After finishing school, he continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge
.
Crawley played as a paid amateur for Farnworth CC in the Bolton League before moving on to bigger things with Lancashire CCC. He made his first-class
debut for Lancashire
in the 1990 season
. During his time as a university student, he played first-class cricket for both Lancashire and Cambridge University
. After graduation he turned professional and stayed on at Lancashire, becoming team captain in 1999–2001.
Crawley began to produce a number of impressive innings. In 1993
, he scored 109 for Lancashire as they defeated a strong Australian cricket team
in a tour match. The tourists' team had included Shane Warne
and Merv Hughes
, and Crawley's performance moved the Australian coach Bob Simpson
to label him the best batsman they had played against that summer. This was during the 1993 Ashes series
in which Australia comfortably defeated England.
team to tour South Africa
that winter. In one tour match, he scored 286 against Eastern Province
. He followed this up with 281 not out against Somerset
the following season.
Having impressed the selectors, he was chosen to play for England during the 1994 Test series against South Africa
. However, he struggled against the South African pace bowling
attack who exposed a weakness on his off side.
Despite his poor start to international cricket, Crawley was selected in the touring squad for the 1994-95 Ashes series
in Australia. He produced his first substantial innings for England scoring two 70s in the 3rd and 4th Tests of the series, but got a pair in the 5th. During the tour, he was criticised for being overweight – an issue he resolved for the following season.
Crawley was in-and-out of the England team over the next few years. In 1996 he scored 106 against Pakistan
, his first Test century, and in 1998 he scored 156 not out against Sri Lanka
, his highest Test score. However, a poor performance during the 1998-99 Ashes series
led to him being dropped from the side, apparently for good.
, Crawley moved from Lancashire to Hampshire
, scoring 272 on his debut, and with an average of over 100 after the first three games he was recalled for Sri Lanka's tour in England. Over the next year he was used as first reserve, and in January 2003 played his last Test match – England's fifth Test victory over Australia at Sydney
.
In the absence of the suspended Shane Warne
, Crawley captained Hampshire during the 2003 season
. He continued to score heavily in county cricket for Hampshire. His highest first-class score is 311 not out, scored in September 2005 against Nottinghamshire
, beating his previous best of 301 not out
which he reached in 2004
also against Nottinghamshire. Crawley was awarded a benefit year for the 2008 County Championship
.
Crawley announced on 8 August 2009 that at the end of the 2009 County Championship
he would be retiring from all forms of first-class cricket, stating he did not want to stand in the way of emerging talent at Hampshire. He is now a full time member of staff at Marlborough College
, the major public school in Wiltshire.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
professional cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who represented England in 37 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. He is regarded alongside his near contemporaries Graeme Hick
Graeme Hick
Graeme Ashley Hick MBE is a Zimbabwean-born cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He played county cricket for Worcestershire for his entire English domestic career, a period of well over twenty years, and in 2008 he surpassed Graham Gooch's record for...
and Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
as a hugely talented player who failed to realise his full potential at international level.
Crawley is a right-handed batsman
Batting (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...
, and an occasional wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
. His main strengths are his batting against spin bowling
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
and his leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
stroke play.
Early career
Crawley played cricket whilst at Manchester Grammar SchoolManchester Grammar School
The Manchester Grammar School is the largest independent day school for boys in the UK . It is based in Manchester, England...
where he broke a number of batting records previously held by Michael Atherton. After finishing school, he continued his education at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
.
Crawley played as a paid amateur for Farnworth CC in the Bolton League before moving on to bigger things with Lancashire CCC. He made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
in the 1990 season
1990 English cricket season
The 1990 English season was one of the most batsmen-friendly summers in living memory. The size of the seam on the cricket ball had been reduced markedly from 1989, and along with dry conditions and the extension of four-day cricket this allowed batsmen to build huge scores: Graham Gooch became one...
. During his time as a university student, he played first-class cricket for both Lancashire and Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. After graduation he turned professional and stayed on at Lancashire, becoming team captain in 1999–2001.
Crawley began to produce a number of impressive innings. In 1993
1993 English cricket season
The 1993 English cricket season saw the dramatic arrival on the scene of Shane Warne and his incredible "Gatting Ball". Australia, led by Steve Waugh, now had one of the strongest teams ever known and won the Ashes with plenty to spare....
, he scored 109 for Lancashire as they defeated a strong Australian cricket team
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in a tour match. The tourists' team had included Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
and Merv Hughes
Merv Hughes
Mervyn Gregory Hughes is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia between 1985 and 1994 in 53 Test matches, taking 212 wickets. He played 33 One Day Internationals, taking 38 wickets. He took a hat trick in a Test against the West Indies at the WACA in...
, and Crawley's performance moved the Australian coach Bob Simpson
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...
to label him the best batsman they had played against that summer. This was during the 1993 Ashes series
Australian cricket team in England in 1993
Four players debuted in the First Test: Andy Caddick and Peter Such for England and Brendon Julian and Michael Slater for the tourists. The new Australian opening partnership of Slater and Mark Taylor dominated the first part of the first day, putting on 128 for the first wicket, but it was Such...
in which Australia comfortably defeated England.
International career
Crawley was selected for the England AEngland A cricket team
The England Lions cricket team is a cricket team representing England and Wales. It is the "second-tier" of international English cricket below the full England cricket team, and is largely intended as a way for promising young cricketers to gain experience of playing international cricket...
team to tour South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
that winter. In one tour match, he scored 286 against Eastern Province
Warriors cricket team
The Chevrolet Warriors is the name used by the combined Eastern Province and Border first class cricket teams in South Africa. The home venues of the Warriors are St George's Park, Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park, East London....
. He followed this up with 281 not out against Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
the following season.
Having impressed the selectors, he was chosen to play for England during the 1994 Test series against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
. However, he struggled against the South African pace bowling
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
attack who exposed a weakness on his off side.
Despite his poor start to international cricket, Crawley was selected in the touring squad for the 1994-95 Ashes series
English cricket team in Australia in 1994-95
The build-up to the First Test was chaotic from the England perspective. The first choice bowling attack was compromised when Devon Malcolm was struck down by chickenpox, which team manager Mike Smith described as "a major loss to the side". Malcolm was replaced by left arm spinner Phil Tufnell,...
in Australia. He produced his first substantial innings for England scoring two 70s in the 3rd and 4th Tests of the series, but got a pair in the 5th. During the tour, he was criticised for being overweight – an issue he resolved for the following season.
Crawley was in-and-out of the England team over the next few years. In 1996 he scored 106 against Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, his first Test century, and in 1998 he scored 156 not out against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
, his highest Test score. However, a poor performance during the 1998-99 Ashes series
English cricket team in Australia in 1998-99
-Second Test: 28-30 Nov 1998, Perth:-Third Test: 11-15 Dec 1998, Adelaide:-Fourth Test: 26-30 December, Melbourne:-Fifth Test: 2-6 January, Sydney:-References:* Playfair Cricket Annual* Wisden Cricketers Almanack...
led to him being dropped from the side, apparently for good.
Move to Hampshire
In 20022002 English cricket season
The 2002 English cricket season saw 2001 county champions Yorkshire relegated. They did, however, win the C&G Trophy.-Honours:*County Championship - Surrey*C&G Trophy - Yorkshire*National League - Glamorgan*Benson & Hedges Cup -...
, Crawley moved from Lancashire to Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
, scoring 272 on his debut, and with an average of over 100 after the first three games he was recalled for Sri Lanka's tour in England. Over the next year he was used as first reserve, and in January 2003 played his last Test match – England's fifth Test victory over Australia at Sydney
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
.
In the absence of the suspended Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
, Crawley captained Hampshire during the 2003 season
2003 English cricket season
The 2003 English cricket season was notable for the long overdue first official County Championship of the oldest county club: Sussex.-Honours:*County Championship - Sussex*C&G Trophy - Gloucestershire*National League - Surrey...
. He continued to score heavily in county cricket for Hampshire. His highest first-class score is 311 not out, scored in September 2005 against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
, beating his previous best of 301 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
which he reached in 2004
2004 County Championship
The 2004 County Championship season, known as the Frizzell County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team plays all the others in their division both home and away...
also against Nottinghamshire. Crawley was awarded a benefit year for the 2008 County Championship
2008 County Championship
The 2008 County Championship season, known as the LV County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team plays all the others in their division both home and away...
.
Crawley announced on 8 August 2009 that at the end of the 2009 County Championship
2009 County Championship
The 2009 County Championship season, known as the LV County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 110th County Championship season. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in their division both home and away...
he would be retiring from all forms of first-class cricket, stating he did not want to stand in the way of emerging talent at Hampshire. He is now a full time member of staff at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, the major public school in Wiltshire.
External links
- John Crawley at CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- John Crawley at CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...