Crawley, in particular, has played beautifully, a player transformed by his home form last summer and unrecognisable from the one who toured India in 2021 with a defence about as useful on the subcontinent as a three-pin plug in Spain. Neither consistency, nor spinning tracks were supposed to be the opener’s calling, and yet both he and Ben Duckett have displayed the game required to kick on. Pope has already done so once, while Joe Root is surely too good, and has too much pedigree in these conditions, for a quiet start to become a series-long slump.
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