A middle-order batsman, Crawford struggled to establish a place in the Canterbury side until he scored 61 against the touring New South Wales team in 1923–24, when he "played the soundest cricket of any one on the side" and "more than justified his inclusion".

[1] The next season, against the Victorians, he made 70 batting at number three,[2] when he "gave a sound exhibition of batting" and "made quite a lot of fine scoring shots", particularly the cut.

[4] He played a few more Plunket Shield matches over subsequent seasons with little success.

Crawford was a stalwart of the St Albans club in Christchurch, playing 223 matches over nearly 30 years.

[5] He was a life member of the Canterbury Cricket Association.