Zak Crawley hits highest-ever Kent score of 170 as they reach 342-7 in reply to Essex’s 451-5 declared in County Championship Division 1

England opener Zak Crawley posted his highest score for Kent on day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1 clash with Essex on Saturday.

The 25-year-old scored 170 in just 183 balls as Kent reached 342-7 in reply to Essex’s 451-5 declared at Canterbury.

“I’m really pleased,” said Crawley. “The key to the innings, I reckon, was just staying very relaxed. I’ve been probably a bit too tense at the crease recently.

“I felt really relaxed and tried to play my natural game and it worked, which was nice.

“It’s a really good cricket wicket. When you bowl well on it, it’s tough to play and when we bowled well at times it seemed tough for their batters. When you didn’t bowl well, it was really nice to score.

“It came on well, there was a bit of pace in the wicket and a bit of turn towards the end there as well, so it’s a shame the first two days got rained off because it could have set up a nice little finish, but we’ve still got to work hard to get the draw.

“Simon Harmer started bowling really well and was getting a bit more turn so I had to rein it in a little bit and score my runs from the seamers’ end. They were also giving me the one towards the end and trying to get me out of my rhythm, which they did pretty well all day.

“Joey Evison batted really well as well because it was important to get past the follow-on target.

“It’s always nice to score runs and enjoy the game of cricket. That’s something that I’ve probably lacked in the last year, that enjoyment.

“At the end of the day it’s just a game, that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the last couple of weeks actually and I’m just going to play every game like I’m playing in the back garden and it worked today.

“Hopefully I can stick with that mindset