Rob Key sends message to axed Zak Crawley and explains Ollie Robinson’s England Test recall

Zak Crawley was not surprised when his phone rang this week and Rob Key’s name popped up on the screen. Perhaps he was already a dead man walking after a dismal Ashes series , but an average of 27. 30 across 10 innings for Kent in the County Championship was the final nail in the coffin.

“I think he knew it was coming,” said Rob Key on Wednesday, after unveiling a new-look England squad which will see Durham’s free-scoring Emilio Gay take over as Ben Duckett’s opening partner. Crawley’s Test career can still be resurrected, Key insisted, but he simply hasn’t made the runs for county or country, and the 28-year-old must first recapture the majestic batting that propelled him to England contention in the first place. “I’d never like to think it’s the end of the road for anyone,” Key added.

“He’s played well against some of the best bowlers in the world. He’s played four years now under intense scrutiny, so he can now go back out of the spotlight and he can try and develop his game … Hopefully it’ll be the making of him. ” Assisted by newly appointed national selector Marcus North – the former Australia batter and ex-director of cricket at Durham – England have chosen a 15-man squad for the first Test match against New Zealand at Lord’s on 4 June, in what will be a busy summer.

The three-Test series continues at The Oval and Trent Bridge, before white-ball series against India and Sri Lanka, and a Test series against Pakistan. Key promised in his post-Ashes briefing before the start of the season that England were committed to reconnecting with the county game, and he has kept that promise with this selection. Gay, 26, earned his opportunity after an impressive County Championship run that included three centuries at an average of 93.