"I genuinely think that he is an investment for English cricket and one that will pay dividends in the future"
Saturday 6 January 2018 00:06, UK
Mason Crane has shown plenty of promise on his Test debut and has the mental capability and technique to be a star, says Mark Butcher...
Mason Crane acquitted himself well on his first day in Test cricket. I'm not surprised that he's settled quickly because one of his great strengths and, for me, one of the things that make him stand out among English spinners of many vintages is that he doesn't seem to carry a lot of the mental fragility that his predecessors have done.
Something that isn't transferable into statistics in first-class cricket, and all those types of things that people used as examples of why he shouldn't have been on the tour in the first place, is a mental capability that is far and away above his experience and his years.
That allied with a reasonably sound technique and an attitude that basically says, "get me out there, I can get anybody out, I'm not worried about bowling to any batsman in world cricket" - all of those things are why I've thought for a couple of years that he is a star in the making.
He certainly isn't there yet and he'll need to play 10 to 15 Test matches, much in the same way that people like Shane Warne did before they really started to make a mark on the game. But I genuinely think that he is an investment for English cricket and one that will pay dividends in the future.
Some people might think even mentioning Warne when talking about a young leg-spinner is putting him under pressure but part of the reason I talk about his mental strength is that I don't think it is something that is going to bother him.
All I'm saying is that if he continues to improve at the sort of rate he has done thus far in his very short career, there is no reason he shouldn't be a real asset for England.
That's not applying any pressure and as far as I can see, he won't see it as being pressure, he'll see that as something to work towards and be excited about living up to.
As for this Test, with the spinners finding some turn already, England cannot afford to give away anything more than an 80-run deficit in the first innings, they've got to keep Australia close.
I've seen it before in Sydney Test matches, if a team has to chase 200, or even 150, in the last innings then it can be very, very difficult, almost impossible. So if England are going to give away a deficit then it has to be a small one.
If Steve Smith plays another one of his special innings and Australia end up 200 in front then that could be really problematic for England. It's reasonably simple, they obviously want a lead but if they give away a deficit, make sure it is only a small one.
Getting rid of Usman Khawaja early on day three would help that. Khawaja has struggled with spin and has tried both a positive and more defensive approach over the course of the series - he jumped out of his box in Melbourne and stuck Moeen Ali 10 rows back, I remember, when they were batting for the draw.
In Sydney, he has obviously decided that the way to go against spin is to use his feet and be a bit more positive, that's a perfectly reasonable approach. But, of course, these runs don't count because it's a dead rubber, right?
England have still had a couple of chances to dismiss him and they can stop him making that first Ashes hundred but the one they've got to worry about is Smith. Never mind Khawaja, they'll feel they can get Khawaja out at any time but Smith is the problem.
