Sourav Ganguly hails England batsman Zak Crawley as a class player as he slams mammoth 267 against Pakistan

England have found a good No. 3 batsman: Sourav Ganguly hails Zak Crawley as a class player as he slams 267

New Delhi, Aug 23: BCCI President and legendary India batsman Sourav Ganguly has lauded England batsman Zak Crawley, who slammed a mammoth 267 against Pakistan in the third Test in Southampton, calling the youngster a class player.

Playing in only his eighth Test, the 22-year-old Crawley hit 267 in a record-setting partnership with fellow century-maker Jos Buttler (152) on Saturday (August 22), taking England closer to a Test series victory over Pakistan.

The 393-ball knock put him in 10th place in the all-time list of top scores by an English player. "England have found a very good no 3 in Crawley," Ganguly tweeted "Looks a class player .. hope to see him in all formats regularly."

England have found a very good no 3 in Crawley.. looks a class player .. hope to see him in all formats regularly @nassercricket @ECB_cricket
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) August 22, 2020

Crawley before the third Test had scored just 314 runs from 11 innings but notched up a 267 in a single innings. With 22 years and 201 days of age, Crawley became the 3rd youngest England player with a Test double. Second youngest with a Test double against Pakistan after Sir Garfield Sobers (21 years 216 days). He also became the youngest England No.3 to score a Test double.

We ran out of things to talk about! - Crawley lauds Buttler after mammoth partnership We ran out of things to talk about! - Crawley lauds Buttler after mammoth partnership

Only playing the third and final Test because Ben Stokes has returned to his native New Zealand for family reasons, Crawley staked a claim to become a regular No. 3 batsman in the England team with his double century. His 359-run partnership with Buttler is a record for the fifth wicket for England in Tests and it is joint-sixth highest ever.

His 267 is now the highest Test score by a batsman who has been dismissed stumped. The previous best was 258 by West Indian Seymour Nurse at Christchurch in 1969.

Highest Test scores by players whose first names begin with 'Z'

274 Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan)

267 Zak Crawley (England)

101 Zin Harris (NZ)

88 Zulqarnain Haider (Pakistan)

83 Zander de Bruyn (SA)

78 Zahid Fazal (Pakistan)

75 Zaheer Khan (India)

63*Zulfiqar Ahmed (Pakistan)

56 Zulfiqar Babar (Pakistan).