Three strokes confirm touch of class

One over on the first day of the third Test match yesterday will stand out for me long after most of the other statistics will have become lost in the record books.

During the afternoon Mushtaq Ahmed, that superbly gifted bowler of leg breaks and googlies, bowled the 41st over of the innings to John Crawley.

Mushtaq's run-up and delivery is worth an essay on its own and after the final twirl of the arms the first ball of the over, generously flighted, was on its way. Crawley moved his left leg forward and did no more than lean into the stroke, bringing his bat through in a gentle flowing arc.

Wasim Akram was fielding at short extra cover and although the ball cannot have passed more than two yards away from him he was unable to move. The ball raced away to the boundary the product of perfect timing.

Two balls later, Mushtaq bowled another of full length which seemed to hang in the air for a moment or two and was well wide of the off stump. Crawley waited for it, moving his left leg forward and across and then at the last moment brought his bat through, this time with more obvious power, and hit it no less sweetly past cover's left hand for four.

The last ball of the over was also well flighted but closer to the off stump. Crawley could have driven it between cover and extra cover but he deliberately delayed his stroke opening the face of the bat and playing the ball with exquisite and effortless timing, placing it precisely to the left of cover for the third four of the over.

They were three strokes which told of Crawley's class. They were all similar yet each was different, calling for a slightly altered blend of skills.

They were the highlight of the best innings that Crawley has so far played for England and how important it is for his confidence and for England's cause that he goes on this morning and converts it into a hundred.

Crawley is one of those players who seems to have more time than most of his colleagues. This illusion prevails because he sees the ball early, which enables him to move his feet into the right position for the stroke. His innings here and Nick Knight's 100 at Headingley have been the two big gains for England in this series against Pakistan.