Zak Crawley: Kent and England batter says next decade will be good one for club
- Published
Zak Crawley passed 3,000 first-class runs for Kent this week
England opener Zak Crawley says the foundations might finally be in place for a decade of success at Kent.
Crawley helped Kent to a mammoth Championship win over Somerset this week to preserve their Division One status and secure a top-half finish.
And the club's sights are firmly set on pushing for red-ball success following their T20 and One-Day Cup triumphs of the past two seasons.
"The next 10 years should hopefully be good here," the 24-year-old said.
Crawley and 21-year-old Tawanda Muyeye combined to put on 176 for the opening wicket at Canterbury on Tuesday to give a glimpse of what Kent fans have to look forward to.
Spinner Hamid Qadri, 21, made a career-best 87 with the bat to help Kent post 492 then helped 22-year-old seamer Nathan Gilchrist - who claimed match figures of 8-134 - skittle Somerset to secure victory by an innings and 151 runs inside three days.
Crawley said: "We knew the talent was here, we just hadn't put anything together at the start. A couple of individuals like Ben Compton (1,193 Championship runs at 54) and Gilchrist (33 wickets in eight matches) did, but apart from that we were a bit sporadic with our performances.
"If we could start doing this early season we'd be a top side."
The figures certainly support Crawley's sentiment. In the past five seasons Kent have played 14 red-ball matches in the month of September, winning 11 of them, and losing just twice.
By contrast they have won just one of the 10 Championship matches they have played in the month of April - at Edgbaston in 2019 - losing six of the others.
It might be 44 years since Kent last won the Championship, and 18 since they were last runners-up, but Crawley insisted: "When we're at our best we are a good side in Division One. We just can't string our best together the last couple of years to be challenging in the top half.
"If we play like we have in the past couple of weeks (beating Hampshire away the previous week, also inside three days), if we put it together we're a decent side, we just have to put it together early in the season so we're not under pressure all the time."
While the average age of Kent's squad will drop significantly next year after the release of 46-year-old all-rounder Darren Stevens, his legacy of positive play will live on in the players who remain.
"It's exactly how he's always played - try and take the game on, try and give the crowd something to watch. That's exactly how we want to play our cricket and there was plenty of crowd here loving the way we played," said Crawley.
"It was good fun and we have got a lot of young players here who are really good prospects. Joey Evison, Tawanda Muyeye, Hamid Qadri, Nathan Gilchrist, Jordan Cox. A lot of good young players. The next 10 years should hopefully be good."
Crawley singled out paceman Gilchrist as someone who might follow him into the England set-up.
He added: "He's impressed me since he's come here. He's a real class bowler, he's really, really good. I think he could be pushing higher honours soon. He hits the pitch very hard on a good length and hits the seam, he gets it moving.
"He's sharp enough too, bowling mid-80s and rushing a couple of the Somerset players. He's an unbelievable prospect, hopefully we can keep him fit and keep him with us for many years."