Zak Crawley had taken a short break from red-ball cricket, missing the last two County Championship matches for Kent, but scored a half-century upon his return.
Zak Crawley scores 81 on red-ball return
Crawley scored 81 runs during his 157-minute stay while opening the batting for Kent against Middlesex. This was his first fifty in first-class cricket since a 76-run knock in the Brisbane Test of the 2025-26 Ashes. He had a disappointing Ashes otherwise, mustering only 273 runs across 10 innings at an average of 27.3, and was subsequently dropped from the England Test squad.
Crawley also struggled in the first six matches of the County Championship season, managing only 226 runs at 20.54 in 12 innings. His top score during the wretched run was 44, and he took a break from first-class cricket after the England axing. He led Sunrisers Leeds in the recently concluded The Hundred season, and only returned to play for Kent for the recent round of Championship games.
As far as the ongoing match is concerned, Crawley lost his opening partner Ben Compton early on after Kent opted to bat, but joined hands with Sam Northeast to stitch a century partnership for the second wicket. The duo batted well to keep the Middlesex bowlers at bay for almost 30 overs, adding 142 runs together. Crawley fell 19 short of a ton while driving a wide delivery from Ryan Higgins, only to be caught at slip.
Zak Crawley's 81 at Middlesex 🫡
— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) August 20, 2026
🎥 LIVE Match Centre: https://t.co/XQPLZOEaIq pic.twitter.com/ELzju61A0H
After Higgins broke the stand, Kent lost wickets at regular intervals. Northeast looked set to bat through the day but was trapped in front by Toby Roland-Jones for 87. After sitting pretty at 167-1 at one stage, Kent finished the opening day of the clash at 299-6 after 76 overs.
Despite pulling things back in the second half of the day, Middlesex would be disappointed to have conceded 53 extras already in the first innings.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
