Zak Crawley is trying to block out the various permutations for England’s top order despite the apparent battle with his Kent teammate Joe Denly for the No 3 spot. The 22-year-old Crawley enjoyed an encouraging start to his Test career during the winter, taking his chance against South Africa after Rory Burns was injured, combining with Dom Sibley for an opening partnership that averaged 53 during the 3-1 series win. A handy knack of increasing his highest score six times running to its current 66 and a mature temperament pointed to a player with whom to persist; signing off from the aborted tour of Sri Lanka with 105, his fourth first-class century, certainly helped. Burns is fit again after ankle surgery and boasts a back catalogue that includes his show of courage against Australia’s quicks during last year’s Ashes, meaning there is a logjam as England prepare for the first Test against West Indies, at the Rose Bowl on 8 July. Sibley’s maiden Test century in Cape Town makes it a likely case of Crawley v Denly at first drop, with the latter 12 years the senior and averaging 30 from 14 Tests. Next week’s inter-squad match will be key unless the birth of Joe Root’s second child frees up a spot, with the captaincy passing to Ben Stokes. Asked about this head-to-head with a county colleague, Crawley replied: “It’s slightly odd. I get on really well with Joe and I wish him every success. Ideally, we’d both play. He’s desperate to play for England – as am I – and we’ll still be good friends whatever happens.” Crawley said he would be comfortable at No 3 and does not necessarily view the warmup match as a straight shootout. “If someone gets a bad decision or a really good ball, suddenly they’ve got a low score and it’s pretty hard to judge on that. I’m not really a person to analyse permutations. The way I see it, they will pick the best three players in form from what they see in the next couple of weeks.” This began with the squad’s first net sessions on Thursday, while England reported Jofra Archer had passed a second Covid-19 test and would start his work on Friday, having been held back because a member of his household felt unwell at the weekend. Crawley, who lives in a flat overlooking the St Lawrence ground in Canterbury, is perhaps the player most used to the squad’s new on-site lifestyle and began his first-class career with a half-century against the touring West Indies in 2017. The 6ft 5in right-hander has not forgotten his roots at Sevenoaks Vine CC during this rapid rise, however, joining the chorus of voices calling for the recreational game to begin despite Boris Johnson recently stating the ball is a “natural vector” of Covid-19. Crawley said: “I feel like it’s time to bring it back. You can social distance easily in cricket. You can’t put saliva on the ball at international level and you could easily do that at [club] level. I’d like to see that decision reserved and get community cricket back on.” The England and Wales Cricket Board cancelled a number of national competitions yesterdayon Thursday – but not its regional Premier Leagues – and urged clubs to arrange “as much cricket as they can in their local area”. The governing body is still in talks with the government and reiterated a 4 July start date remains possible. Windies head coach plays down Holder concerns The West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, insists there is nothing to worry about after captain Jason Holder played a peripheral part in his side’s first warm-up match. Holder captained one team in the inter-squad match but did little more than stand at slip for the majority of game. He declined to bowl and when he came to the middle, he was dismissed lbw by Raymon Reifer for a golden duck. The captain did not promote himself for the second innings as the game meandered to an inevitable draw, but Holder is expected to play a much bigger role in the next internal warm-up game. “Jason has had a slight niggle on his ankle and that is what has held him back from bowling, but that was always the plan for this match,” Simmons said. “He will be back to bowling in the four-day game and should be bowling his full quota.” Simmons also suggested wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich was not a major fitness concern after leaving the field with an apparent side strain, and added that the latest round of Covid-19 tests had all come back negative. PA Media