Sound or flawed? England’s faith in Crawley tested

We are once more enthralled over Zak Crawley’s selection for England’s Test squad.

A debate that never really ended was brought back by ducks in each of the first Test’s innings in Perth.

Can England continue to select a batter with the lowest ERA of any opener (30. 96) to start 60 Tests for him?

The justification for Crawley’s continued selection has been well-told.

Since Duckett’s comeback in Pakistan in 2022, no opening partnership has scored more runs, put on more than fifty stands, or 100 partnerships.

Crawley’s runs and the pair’s small-and-large combination have been significant contributors to that success.

Crawley also has a strong record against Australia, with his 43.06 against them at the start of this series being the best of any England batter since making his debut. One of England’s best Ashes innings in a decade is the stunning 189 at Old Trafford in 2023.

Crawley averages 54 against Pat Cummins, but he has never been let down by Josh Hazlewood in his Test career despite missing this first Test with an injury.

Crawley still manages to score a respectable 38.8 runs per dismissal against the left-arm fast bowler despite the two Perth errors made by Mitchell Starc.

Crucially, Crawley has long been believed to be suitable for Australian cricket. Despite his struggles, England has continued to follow his example thanks to this tour.

He plays well off the top of the bounce, driving deliveries that reach him at a height of 80 to 90 cm off the deck, as they frequently do on bouncy Australian tracks, and he has a good record against high pace.

Some people have had limited on-field success, which adds to the theory.

Crawley, 23, scored 77 on a miserable 2021-22 Ashes trip, an innings of drives and runs of length at Sydney. In Hobart, he flickered in knocks of 18 and 36.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell remarked that Crawley should be the “future” of England’s batting, saying, “You would want to go a long way with him before you drop him.”

Even last year, Chappell grouped Crawley, Root, and Harry Brook as the key Ashes batters under one of the team’s key players, a rare example of an overbearing English bat.

The reality is that England chose a different type of football than what this series started with two ducks.

Literally speaking, it couldn’t have gone worse.

It would be even more erratic to ask Will Jacks or Jacob Bethell to open for the first time after one Test and promote a debutant from the Lions, or drop Crawley after one Test.

However, there are troubling trends that Crawley must address, most notably a sharp decline in his record against a fast pace.

At the start of the drawn series against India this summer, Crawley’s preference for speed was demonstrated by his career average of 48.25 against deliveries over 87mph.

He has now allowed five dismissals in 54 balls against Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna since then, a six-for-the-number average against these deliveries.

Pace, however, was not Crawley’s issue in Perth.

When Starc caught and bowled him in the second inning, he was perhaps early on the shot.

Instead, the fact that both failures were both drives, with the first aggressive swish leading to a tentative push before the second failed was what made both failures connect.

Driving is now much more dangerous because the Australian pitches are harder than ever and the Kookaburra seaming more refined.

With four dismissals in eight innings, Crawley shoots 55.5 at home, compared to 8.25 in Australia. His strength is also his weakness, as it frequently happens.

Despite all the talk and optimism, Crawley’s average in Australia is 20.75.

England will give him little else to do.