England hopeful ready to step over sledge
Dec 22, 2017 - 6:14 PM Mason Crane will shut out the sledging from Australian crowds if he makes his debut in the Boxing Day Test.Crane has been taken aback by the "verbals" from partisan spectators in this winter's Ashes.
But the 20-year-old legspinner may be about to put some distance between himself and the 90,000-plus at the MCG.
Crane may face a straight battle with uncapped seamer Tom Curran to replace the injured Craig Overton in the fourth Test - and if he wins, he will be relieved to escape running drinks in front of the home support.
"The verbals going on in this series, I've never seen the like before," he said.
"Walking around's tough. If a bowler wants a drink on the far side, we're drawing straws."
"I'm not sure much of it can be repeated - it's not for families.
"You just laugh it off. There's not much else you can do, really. They're going to shout it (anyway)."
Whether he attracts the same attention in the middle is a moot point if asked to add to a team which has already lost the Ashes but is out to prove better than the current 3-0 scoreline.
"You spend your life growing up wanting to play for England, and I'm not going to let a few shouting Aussies get in the way of it," he said.
"If I do play Test cricket I'm going to try and enjoy every moment."
Crane marked his first trip to Australia as a teenager last winter with such improvement in Sydney grade cricket that he was called in for a Sheffield Shield debut for NSW.
"When I left for Australia last year, if someone said I'd be here now, you probably would have said they were being silly," he said.
The difference this time is all that extra attention.
One or two "had a pop" at a "young English" when he was playing for club side Gordon, but Crane added: "Most of the time, my grade team were winning - so they couldn't say too much."
His prospects of a first cap are perhaps enhanced by the poor form of frontline spinner Moeen Ali - sure to retain his place as an allrounder but arguably leaving the need for an alternative rather than another seamer.
Source: AAP
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