Ben Stokes backs underperforming Zak Crawley and Alex Lees

Stokes has backed his under-fire players (PC:Twitter)

Pressure has been mounting on England’s Zak Crawley, who has been unable to contribute runs for the team this summer so far. But the batsman has been backed by his skipper Ben Stokes, who recently said that he has never considered dropping Crawley from the playing XI.

 In his last five Tests for England, Crawley has amassed only 164 runs at an average of 16.40. And to make matters worse, his form in domestic cricket has dipped too – Crawley is averaging only 24.25 for Kent in the County Championship.

There have been calls for Crawley to be dropped from the team, even more so after England put up a disastrous performance in the first Test against South Africa. Viewers were taken by surprise after Crawley’s inclusion in the playing XI for the second Test, with some saying that the batsman has got lucky.

Stokes opens up on Crawley and Lees

“The two guys (other one being Lees), I know want to be contributing more towards the team, but I look at the two lads that we have at the top and they're all about the team and taking the individual aspect away of what cricket can do.

"The wider picture of this whole team that we're really growing towards is that the team ethos is bigger than any individual goal. So I'm really happy with the way they're still going out there and trying to impose themselves on the game and I know a big score for both is around the corner for both of them because they're both quality players."

As far as Alex Lees is considered, his form has not been great, but it has been better than that of Crawley. This summer so far, Lees has scored 271 runs at an average of 27.10.

England, meanwhile, lost the first Test to South Africa by an innings after underperforming with the bat in both innings. The second Test got underway earlier today (August 25). 

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