It seems a little distant now, a little by-the-by, that this Ashes series was billed, among other things, as a referendum on Zak Crawley’s England career. The tour he was groomed for. The hidden sub-menace in his one-year central contract offer. Here was a chance to justify the high-wire walk of the last few years, to find an answer, perhaps, to the eternal question: is Zak Crawley actually any good?

In the event other things have happened, other warning lights blinked, other elements of England’s collective failure creaked more urgently. Shoaib Bashir, the project spinner, plucked from social media for this tour, is in the 12 for Sydney. He hasn’t taken a wicket in a proper game since July. Good luck babe!

Meanwhile Crawley is preparing to play his 64th Test, 10th on the all-time list for England openers. He averages 31. He averaged 31 at the start of the tour. He looks better than 31. He always looks better than 31. In Australia he has managed to make a pair in the first Test, but still end up as England’s top scorer heading into the fifth. Albeit on the current tour this is a variation on tallest very small person territory, most enjoyable snicko discussion, most luxuriously high-end TNT sport broadcast segment.

Crawley averages 31 in this series too. This is Crawley maths. He will always average 31, feast or famine. It is his destiny to remain unshakably himself. The Crawley identity will always be associated for some with the idea of favour, entitlement, indulgence. But there have been many more selfish England batters than this. A more favourable metric: Crawley has been part of 30 England Test victories, only one behind Michael Atherton but in 52 fewer matches.

This time around there has been variation. In Adelaide Crawley batted with restrained resilience for four hours on a fourth-day pitch. In Melbourne he produced a classic Zakball jaunty 37 in the fourth-innings chase, an innings that included the shot of the series, the straight six lifted with an easy grace over long on, the moment the game just slipped away from Australia, a victory that will stand as Bazball’s pyrrhic endgame.

In Sydney Crawley is playing at his home from home, a place where he has spent a lot of time, including that rare thing, a record-busting stint in Sydney grade cricket, where the English generally come to suffer, learn, take their licks. A score here would confirm that this has been a good tour for Crawley, that his own run in the Test team will roll on beyond whatever happens to the current management.

Two days out, addressing the media from the SCG’s windowless press dungeon, he sounded calm, settled and full of road still to run. Press conference Crawley is decisively post-Bazball these days. At the SCG he was all dead bat and soft hands.

Would losing 3-2 make a big difference to the mood of the tour? “It might not go our way but if we can put in a good performance this week I think it shows a lot about us.”

Was the chase in Melbourne a gamechanger? “I felt like we had some clarity about that chase … When you’re chasing a score like that it gives you a lot of clarity about how you’re going to play.”

Has he had a good series? “Obviously I would have liked a couple of bigger scores than I could manage to change the course of a couple of games. Hopefully I can do that this week and contribute to a win.”

OK then. How is Matthew Potts looking? “Every time I face him he impresses me, he’s got the heart of a lion, a lot of skill and if he gets the nod this week he thoroughly deserves it.”

Is he inspired by his 77 here four years ago? And is a Zebra a horse with stripes, or a horse a plain version of a zebra?

“I feel like I really enjoy playing my cricket in Sydney, so hopefully I can lean on that and create more memories.”

Is he a leader in this team? And what, if the universe is both expanding and also infinite, is the universe expanding into? How does infinity expand?

“I just try to lead by example if anything, go about my business and stay in my lane. I know what my role is and just try to do that as well as possible.”

There was at least a glimpse of shoot-from-the-hip Crawley, the guy who just wants to chase more, who thinks 3-2 would make a good series score, when he was asked about batting against spinner Todd Murphy, who may play at the SCG.

“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team: to try to put pressure on people. Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.”