Zach Crowley gives England reason to celebrate centenary against Essex

Zach Crowley scored just his eighth goal in first class to save Kent against Essex. Credit: Getty Images/David Rogers

The third round of the County Championship brought a lot of joy to England's breeders, but little has pleased them more than Zach Crawley's 170 from just 183 balls, his highest ever first-class result for Kent.

Crowley is under pressure for his place as the first player in England ahead of the first Test of the summer, against Ireland on 1 June, not only because his Test average is 27.6, but also because he has not shown a consistent performance for his counties. And it proved true earlier this summer: 91 in his first inning followed by three lows.

Against Essex at Canterbury, he left that behind to play an innings littered with beautiful shots, scoring his 100 on 96 balls and helping to ensure Kent didn't go on in response to a reported 451-of-five score. The surface is good for batting (Nick Brown and Tom Westley have earned visitors big hundreds) and Essex's top bowler Sam Cooke is out with a hamstring problem, but it was a great shot of controlled aggression against a powerful attack.

Crowley hit 27 fours and a six, and his boundaries were all over the earth. But he was particularly cruel whenever Essex's sewing machines were knocked off his paws, and Simon Harmer was treated with disrespect, especially when stripping back.

That it was only Crowley's eighth first-class hundred (three of them in Tests), and that he needed that opportunity to raise his average above 30 in red ball cricket, goes a long way in explaining questions about Crowley's place ahead. Ashes, especially with the stagnant choice ahead of the return of Johnny Bairstow.

Crowley is under pressure from the English leadership. welcome back Johnny Barstow. Photo: AFP/Aamir Qureshi

But this is exactly what the breeders want from Crowley: lively, smooth and changing the nature of the match. By the time he was sacked on the 64th over for pulling away from Jamie Porter, Kent was only 170 points behind. No other Kent batsman reached 50 – his opening partner, Ben Compton scored 46 out of 162 – as Crowley kept his side in the game. On the third day, Kent were 109 points behind with three wickets in hand.

There was much more to please England this weekend: Crowley's starting partner this winter, Ben Duckett, scored 177 points for Nottinghamshire on Lord, with teammate Stuart Broad taking four points out of 68. James Anderson also took five out of 76 for Lancashire against Somerset, although Ollie Robinson had a quiet match for Sussex against Yorkshire. At Hove, Yorkshire needs 63 more runs after a remarkable turn on the third day as Sussex lost 137. a three-week absence with elbow pain. Archer hasn't played in the Tests for over two years due to stress fractures in his elbow and back, but is still in contention for the Ashes.