Zak Crawley suffered a horror show in the first Ashes Test in Perth as he failed to score a single run during England’s two innings. The Three Lions imploded at the Optus Stadium as Australia won by eight wickets. England racked up just 172 runs on the first day of the Ashes after choosing to bat first but made amends after dismissing Australia for 132.
The tourists were then bowled out for 164 in their second innings, with Australia racking up 205-2 on day two. And with that, Australia have struck the first blow as an Ashes Test was wrapped up inside two days for the first time in 104 years.
Crawley was dismissed in the first innings after edging a delivery from Mitchell Starc to slip as the batter faced just the sixth ball of the match.
And history repeated itself in England’s second innings when Crawley was unable to score for a second time. He faced just 11 balls across both innings.
His miserable performance with the bat means he became the fourth England opener to record a pair of ducks in an Ashes Test after Trevor Bailey in 1959, Dennis Amiss in 1975 and Michael Atherton in 1998.
And serious questions must be asked about whether he should remain an opener. The numbers suggest he shouldn’t.
Crawley has been England’s opener for almost six years and has long been trusted for the role for trip Down Under by coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. He was backed to be ideal for these conditions.
But he’s been anything but. The top-order batter has been dismissed for single figures in 41 per cent of his 60 Test matches. That is not good enough.
He has managed to score 3,313 runs throughout his Test career and has racked up five centuries and 19 half centuries. But his inconsistency has left England in unenviable positions on too many occasions.
And out of all the players in Test history who have scored at least 2,500 runs, none of them possess a lower average than Crawley.
Crawley is clearly a very talented player who is almost unplayable when the stars align. But the odd wonder score won’t provide England with the substance needed to win tough matches at the top level of cricket.
England need a consistent opener who can keep himself at the wicket, build a score and turn the pressure back on opponents.
McCullum and Stokes need to think again. And difficult decisions need to be made if England are to leave Australia with the Ashes urn. Crawley, you feel, is not the man for the job.