England's Zak Crawley reacts as he leaves the field after losing his wicket on day two of the first Ashes cricket test match between Australia and England in Perth, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Gary Day)With Zak Crawley having a nightmare start to the Ashes campaign, scoring two ducks in the 1st Test against Australia at Perth, former England captain Alastair Cook explained the rationale behind the Three Lions’ insistence on going with the opener despite not having the best of records.
“England are happy with getting three innings out of him, aren’t they? That’s what he’s done in the past and why he keeps playing in those and he tends to change the momentum of the game. He gets 80 or 100, it tends to be an unbelievable innings. He’s the best batter to ever average 80 in terms of the standard he plays. So actually, he’s having to deliver three out of eight now for him to work,” Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“I saw a stat that 41% of his innings end in single figures as an opening batsman. Zak Crawley is doing what Zak Crawley does. He’s been backed for three years until this moment. The decision on Zak Crawley will be whether this works over the next eight innings. If he plays three, hopefully four innings in this series and changes the game, that’s why he’s been picked and why he’s employed. Sometimes I look at him and the innings he plays are unbelievable. But they’ve backed him now and won’t change that until after Sydney. He plays all the way through for me,” he added.
“41% of his innings end in single figures.”
The team discuss Zak Crawley’s first Ashes test. 🏏 pic.twitter.com/dcd6cCNYEU
— Stick to Cricket (@StickToCricket) November 25, 2025
Crawley’s pair of ducks perfectly encapsulated England’s batting failure at Perth with Ben Stokes and Co scoring 172 and 164 in both innings. Even after skittling out Australia for just 132 in their first innings and taking a 40-run lead, England’s batting let them down once again in the second innings with the visitors mustering just a 205-run lead for Australia to chase in the 4th innings.
The Aussies on the backs of Travis Head’s scintillating century and Marnus Labuschagne’s half century easily chased down the target with the Test ending in just 2 days.
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