 In the Test series , Crawford scored 281 runs at an average of 31 @.@ 22 and took nine wickets at 35 @.@ 77 . England lost the series 4 – 1 , finding it difficult to bat against the South African googly bowlers . Wisden 's tour report described Crawford 's batting as one of the few positives for his side . Writing home during the tour , the MCC captain Pelham Warner frequently praised Crawford and the extent of his ability at a young age . The English press even parodied what Crawford 's biographer , Michael Burns , describes as Warner 's " near @-@ obsession " with Crawford . Other critics believed that Crawford should have been more successful as a bowler but was distracted by the matting surfaces used in South Africa ; because he was able to make the ball bounce and turn extravagantly from the surface , he tried to spin the ball too much and lost accuracy as a result . 
