Exclusive: Zak Crawley Talks England Contingent and SA20’s World-Class Appeal

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape have enjoyed a lot of success under the leadership of Adrian Birrell with Aiden Markram as the captain. The Orange Army won the first two editions of the SA20 but the start of the third edition has seen their crown come under increasing threat.

Forced into a corner

The Gqeberha-based outfit has been on the receiving end of three defeats from their opening three games and as a result, they now face an unfamiliar situation where victories in their next few matches have become a necessity.

Markram and his troops will make the long trip to the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Friday to face off against the Durban Super Giants, who are also in need of a victory as they find themselves second from bottom after three matches.

The two-time champion's chances of defending their title are slowly fading and they will look for inspiration from destructive English opener Zak Crawley, who joined the side for his debut season in the competition.

The pressing need to turn things around

The lanky right-handed batter told SportsBoom.com that his side is not far away from turning the corner and they should take some confidence from some of the matches they have played so far this season despite the losses.

“It has not been an ideal start team wise but we have played some good cricket. We just haven’t managed to put up a good game together for now. Every team we come up against is of the highest quality; it doesn’t take a lot for us to gear up for that," Crawley told SportsBoom.com. 

“We are very much up for it and looking forward to the next couple of games to get back on track.”

“I like the fact that games come thick and fast; the sooner, the better for us at the moment because I feel like we have played some decent cricket and we don’t need to overthink it, and to play back-to-back games could be a good thing for us.”

The crowd, teammates and opportunities

Crawley continued to add that he has always kept an eye on the tournament since its inception and having had the opportunity to be a part of it has also been a good experience so far.

The 26-year-old looked in good touch against the Paarl Royals before he was dismissed caught behind off the pad from a Mujeeb Ur Rahman delivery for 27, which still remains his high score so far.

“The crowds looked really good from afar, and just the vibe around the competition—obviously South Africans love their sport and I was just looking forward to playing in front of full houses and getting amassed with all the fans.”

“It was nice to get a couple in the middle in the match against the Paarl Royals, obviously not the score that I wanted, but I have just been trying to find my way and tempo in this format in this part of the world and I feel like I am slowly but surely getting there.”

“It's great to have some English guys in the team, and I know all of them well from playing against them and we get along pretty well as a group."

"It has certainly made it easier but the South African guys have also made it easy for us and they have made us feel at home.”

“The best thing about the franchise world at the moment is that you get a chance to play with some of the best players around the world.”

“Obviously, there are a couple of young South African players with a lot of talent who can come in to learn from the likes of Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen.”

“There are quite a lot of guys from our team; it's a great opportunity for them and a great opportunity for the older guys to pick staff off of those players as well, so there are a lot of opportunities for everyone.”