Kent’s Zak Crawley admitted he feels nervous playing for the county because he’s so keen to do well.
The 27-year-old England international hit a match-winning 75 not out to guide Spitfires to an eight-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Hampshire at Canterbury on Sunday.
It was a fourth and final T20 outing for Crawley this summer as he heads off to prepare for the Test series against India.
But he was delighted to make his mark for Kent after struggling in last year’s Blast.
“I always try and enjoy myself but I certainly put a certain amount of pressure on myself to perform whoever I’m playing for,” said Crawley.
“I have high standards for myself and I expect myself to perform whenever I play so I obviously get nervous but because of that you want to do well.
“I work hard at my game and it means a lot to play well. I always want to do well.
“I didn’t have a great blast last year and I struggled a little bit at T20 in the winter as well so to come back and feel like I’ve got a lot more clarity around my game feels really nice.”
The stats underline the transformation. Crawley scored just 82 runs in eight innings last year but scored 215 in just four innings this summer with an average of 71.67.
Crawley puts that clarity down to his return to form in the red-ball game as well as batting smarter.
“I feel like I’m in a good place physically and my set-up feels good in all formats,” reflected Crawley.
“Just mentally being a little bit smarter about the right options at the right times and a little bit of thought around that has gone a long way for me.”
It’s that hard work away from the middle that often goes unnoticed.
Crawley will open the innings for England in the first Test against India at Headingley on Friday, June 20.
There’s plenty of homework for Crawley between now and then.
“I feel like I’m in a good place so it’ll just be maintaining that to be honest and hitting a lot of balls,” said Crawley.
“Most days I’ll be having a hit, just throw downs and trying to watch a lot of footage of India, see what they bring. A lot of guys coming wide of the crease like Jasprit Bumrah and throws like that.
“I try to prepare quite specifically for what I’m coming up against and then also just doing my set-up stuff and make sure I’m feeling good.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it, plenty of hours. I’ve been working hard on my game for, I’m 27, probably 20 years now. So yeah, people don’t really have any idea how much work goes into it. They think you just turn up and do it, but it’s not the case.
“I can’t wait to go up against the best and see what I’m made of and hopefully it brings out the best in me.”
Crawley had scored 23 off his first 20 balls against Hampshire on Sunday but then changed bats just before he hit John Turner for a massive six over long-on.
It sparked him into top gear as he reached his half-century in 29 balls and then ended 75 not out off 43 deliveries.
“My first six was probably my favourite shot, I got that one quite nicely,” said Crawley.
“I had a little trouble with the grip, it kept coming up and it was just making a little line on my hand so the bat was fine.
“I’ve got some nice bats at the moment but it was just the grip that kept riding up, it was annoying me on my hands.
“It’s just great playing with Kent, some of my best mates in the world play in this team and I get to spend time with them.
“I always want to come back and play for Kent and spend time with all the boys, to be honest. It’s always nice to get a couple of nice knocks and contribute to a win, it feels nice.”
