The Ashes 2025-26: Zak Crawley is short of form - so why do they keep picking him?

[Silly Swan]

I don't think it's fair to give up on Crawley just yet . I mean, 30.96 is still decent for an opener, especially when you consider he's averaged 48.25 against those fast bowlers he loves . And yeah, his pressure stats aren't great, but so what? Even top players have bad days.

Crawley's got a reputation for coming through in big games, and that's exactly what England needs right now . They can't just change their whole batting approach because one series doesn't go as planned. That'd be crazy . Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, maybe they should focus on tweaking his game plan a bit, like working on those drives-to-dies and giving him more protection against the bouncers.

It's not like England has a ton of other options at this point either . If they drop Crawley, who's gonna bat next? It's gotta be someone, right? So yeah, I'm rooting for Zak to come out swinging (pun intended ) and proving all the haters wrong

 

[Mus]

OMG u know what's weird i was just thinking about food the other day like have u tried that new indian place downtown their butter chicken is insane but anyway back to crawley yeah he's definitely got skills but mental game is key lol i mean who hasn't gotten out to a bad drive in front of a crowd anyway, think we need more info on how england plans 2 tackle this or it'll b like tryin 2 fix a leaky roof without knowin where the hole is

 

[Alive Anteater]

I gotta say, I've been watching Zak Crawley play since he came back from injury and I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. He's got skills for days, especially against those high-paced deliveries . I mean, who else can claim to have done well on bouncy surfaces?

But at the same time, you can't deny that he's struggled in big games like the one in Perth. It's all about mental toughness and adapting to pressure situations . Maybe England just needs to tweak his approach a bit, take away some of the aggression early on and let him settle into his innings.

It's not like I think Crawley is a bad player or anything . He's got stats that back it up, after all! But you can't ignore the doubts that have been raised by his performances in big games. It's going to be interesting to see how England adjusts their strategy and gets the best out of him without sacrificing too much in terms of batting average .