‘Time to go’: Final pieces Bazball must find … and Ashes truth Aussies will hate to admit

Fresh off a thrilling victory over India at Lord’s, England looks poised to touch down on Australian soil next summer with its strongest Ashes squad in a generation.

Rejuvenated by coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, the old enemy will arrive in November brimming with confidence, boasting a team that could challenge the world’s No. 1 Test side in their own backyard.

Opener Ben Duckett is the sport’s most consistent multi-format batter, while no cricketer has scored more Test runs over the last five years than former captain Joe Root, with 20 hundreds since the start of 2021.

Harry Brook is No. 1 on the ICC Test batting rankings, while wicketkeeper Jamie Smith has drawn comparisons to the legendary Adam Gilchrist for his recent feats with the willow.

Boosted by the return of speedster Jofra Archer, England is building a pace attack that could expose Australia’s vulnerable top order, with Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse each expected to feature in the marquee series.

And despite his recent struggles with the bat, Stokes is a proven match-winner and remains the most intimidating figure in England’s line-up.

There remain some lingering concerns about the inconsistent Ollie Pope, whose hot-and-cold performances at No. 3 have prompted calls for rising star Jacob Bethell to earn recall.

Regardless, eight members of England’s starting XI for the Ashes opener in Perth are set in stone – but two glaring issues remain.

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Jofra sends the off stump cartwheeling! | 00:47

During a high-scoring Test series dominated by batters, England opener Zak Crawley has accumulated 128 runs at 21.33, with most recent scores of 19, 0, 18 and 22.

Capable of extraordinary knocks in the Test arena – most notably his 267 against Pakistan in Southampton and 189 against Australia at Old Trafford – Crawley has maintained a mediocre record in the Test arena, averaging 30.89 across 57 Tests. Among Test cricketers with at least 90 innings as opener, Crawley’s average is comfortably the lowest.

When the Kent product walks out to bat in Tests, 40 per cent of the time he’s dismissed for single figures.

“How many more chances is Crawley going to get? He has learnt nothing in his 57 Tests,” former England opener Geoffrey Boycott penned for The Telegraph UK.

“Time to go. Five hundreds and an average of 31 is not good enough.

“Most opposition bowlers can’t wait to get their sweaters off to bowl at him. Can you imagine what the Australian seamers are thinking about this winter’s Ashes series?”

However, Crawley’s counterpunching approach fits perfectly the Bazball DNA, while he has formed a successful opening partnership alongside Duckett.

“They complement each other,” Stokes said earlier this month.

“Left-hand, right-hand. One is a giant, one is not. It is very hard for bowlers to settle in.”

Lowest batting average among Test openers

30.10 - Zak Crawley (ENG)

32.57 - Kraigg Brathwaite (WI)

32.82 - Sherwin Campbell (WI)

33.55 - Geoff Marsh (AUS)

33.61 - Graeme Wood (AUS)

* Minimum 90 innings

England's Zak Crawley. AP Photo/Richard Pelham Source: AP

Despite glimpses of excellence, Crawley has averaged 24.54 over the last 12 months, while that figure slips to 19.81 when excluding his Trent Bridge century against Zimbabwe. According to CricViz, the right-hander has averaged just 21 against full deliveries from fast bowlers since the start of 2022, the lowest figure among Test cricketers during that period (minimum 100 balls).

“There have been many players who have frustrated fans – including me – over the years, but he is right up there as the most frustrating I can remember,” former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph UK.

“In my time watching, playing for and covering England, he is the player luckiest to have won as many caps as he has.

“Crawley thinks about attacking before he defends. That simply does not work when you are under pressure and the ball is doing a bit. It’s nothing to do with coaching, it’s all about his mindset.

“It cannot just be Zak’s way or the highway.”

"Can you believe it?!": Siraj Stunned | 01:51

Elsewhere, spinner Shoaib Bashir has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against India due to a fractured finger sustained in London. The 21-year-old took the decisive wicket at Lord’s on Monday, but it was a lone highlight in an otherwise forgettable campaign for the tweaker.

Bashir conceded 476 runs across the first two Tests against India, while the majority of his wickets have been caught on the boundary rope.

Among spinners who have bowled at least 4000 deliveries in Tests, Bashir’s career economy rate of 3.78 is comfortably the highest. Averaging 74.78 in the County Championship, he isn’t even a part of Somerset’s first-choice starting XI, sitting behind former Test spinner Jack Leach in the county’s pecking order.

Outside of the United Kingdom, the off-spinner has taken 34 wickets at 41.97 – and England fans are not convinced he has what it takes to trouble Australia’s middle order next summer.

Overseas spinners have averaged 54 in Australia this century, and there’s nothing to indicate that Bashir won’t suffer the same fate as Graeme Swann (seven wickets at 80.00 in 2013/14), Moeen Ali (five wickets at 115.00 in 2017/18) and Jack Leach (six wickets 53.50 in 2021/22).

Highest economy rate among Test spinners

3.78 - Shoaib Bashir (ENG)

3.71 - Ish Sodhi (NZ)

3.70 - Graeme Cremer (ZIM)

3.62 - Moeen Ali (ENG)

3.52 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND)

* Minimum 4000 deliveries

Shoaib Bashir of England. Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

The wounded Bashir, who will undergo surgery on his finger, has been replaced in England’s squad by Hampshire’s Liam Dawson, who made the most recent of his three Test appearances in 2017. Since the start of 2023, he has taken 124 wickets at 25.6 and averaged 47.6 with the bat in the County Championship.

The 35-year-old Dawson edged the likes of Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks for the Test vacancy, but there’s no guarantee he’ll play the fourth Test in Manchester. England would be tempted to recall Bethell, while quicks Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson are waiting in the wing if the hosts want to unleash an all-pace attack.

Pending conditions, England’s starting XI looks stronger without a strike spinner.

“If you’re picking the strongest England side, I don’t think (Bashir) gets into it,” former England captain Alastair Cook said on Stick To Cricket.

“He doesn’t add anything with the bat and not much in the field.”

The fourth Test between England and India gets underway at Manchester’s Old Trafford on Wednesday, July 23.

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