Zak Crawley has been earmarked as a future full-time England captain ahead of his international debut as skipper, The Telegraph reports. The article goes on to say:

Crawley has only played three one-day internationals, all in 2021, but will lead England against Ireland today in their last ODI series before their World Cup defence in India. After a stellar Ashes series, Zak's appointment as captain reflects his growing standing in the English game.

While the series against Ireland is England’s last before the World Cup, it is better understood as representing the start of the journey towards the 2027 tournament.

“Zak could be somebody that captains in other formats in the future,” said Mo Bobat, England’s performance director. “He is quite a leaderful character, the way that he goes about his business – the way he role models, through his own behaviours.”

“We see leadership potential in him,” declared Luke Wright, England’s national selector. “People look up to him as a leader. We’ve seen the way he handles himself around that group in Test cricket, he’s been hugely impressive.”

Before the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, with England suffering from several injuries, Crawley asked if he could address the side in the team huddle. Crawley told them a parable of a Chinese farmer who lived his life by a Far Eastern proverb: ‘Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?’ The message was for England to focus on their actions, rather than worry about events that they could not control.

Even while his technique has been dissected during some arduous periods in Test cricket, Crawley has retained his equable temperament. Refraining from using social media has helped him treat Kipling’s twin imposters the same.

“I just try and stay in my own bubble and listen to the people whose opinions I want to hear,” he has explained.

The bulk of Crawley’s leadership experience came in the mid-2010s, when leading Tonbridge School. There, Crawley captained in a manner in keeping with Ben Stokes’s England.

“I’d describe him as bold and brave,” recalls Chris Morgan, Tonbridge’s director of sport.

“He always backed his players – and wasn’t thinking about what if things went wrong. He was thinking if we perform to the best of our ability and this player does what he’s capable of we’re going to have a really good chance of winning. 

“So he’d always back his players, always back them to do well, put them in situations where they could do well and he’d lead from the front with the bat. He wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything he didn’t do himself.”

So far, two games for Kent in the T20 Blast and two in the County Championships are the limit of Crawley’s captaincy experience in the professional game. But Daniel Bell-Drummond, his long-time opening partner who has often captained the county, has observed Crawley’s leadership abilities.

“He’s a very good talker to the team, not just in delivery but more the impact of his words,” Bell-Drummond says. “He’s massive on taking the positive option. He’s a smart and brave cricketer so I look forward to him showing his tactical strengths.

“He’s a confident person in his abilities and has a will to win, he is also very interested in other perspectives and opinions as he always wants the best for people and for the team. I’ve always believed he’d be an England captain one day.”

If Crawley’s immediate focus will be upon using the series against Ireland to further his white-ball aspirations, the series doubles as a chance for him to develop his claims to lead England in years to come.