Zak Crawley Struggles as England Faces Australia in Ashes Test

Crawley's Disappointing Performance in Ashes Test

Perth [Australia], November 22: Zak Crawley has unfortunately joined the ranks of English openers who have recorded a pair of ducks in an Ashes Test, falling victim to pacer Mitchell Starc during the first Test at Perth's Optus Stadium on Saturday.

With the aim of giving England a strong start to build on their 40-run lead, Crawley was dismissed by Starc in the very first over, thanks to an impressive one-handed catch by the seasoned Australian bowler. Earlier in the first innings, he had edged a delivery to slips, where Usman Khawaja took the catch.

As a result, Crawley has now become the fourth English opener to achieve this dubious feat, following in the footsteps of Trevor Bailey (Melbourne 1959), Dennis Amiss (Adelaide 1975), and Michael Atherton (Melbourne 1998).

This match also marks a unique occurrence where a wicket fell without any runs being scored in each of the first three innings, with both Crawley and Jake Weatherald dismissed for ducks without contributing to their teams' scores.

In his seven Tests this year, Crawley has accumulated 414 runs across 12 innings, averaging 34.50 with a strike rate exceeding 63, which includes a century and three fifties, with a top score of 124.

After Australia was bowled out for 132 in response to England's first innings total of 172, a solid partnership between Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett helped England secure a 99-run lead by the end of the first session on day two.

At the conclusion of the session, England stood at 59/1, with Duckett (28*) and Pope (24*) both not out.

Earlier, Australia resumed day two at 123/9, with Brendan Doggett and Nathan Lyon at the crease, both unbeaten at 3* and 0* respectively. They managed to rotate the strike to chip away at the deficit, but a brilliant catch from Ben Duckett at gully concluded Australia's innings at 132 in 45.2 overs, leaving them trailing by 40 runs.

England's captain Ben Stokes was the standout bowler, taking 5 wickets for 23 runs, including crucial dismissals of Travis Head (21 off 35 balls) and Cameron Green (24 off 50 balls), who had formed a partnership after Australia found themselves at 31/4. Brydon Carse (3/45) and Jofra Archer (2/11) also contributed significantly, causing early trouble for the Australians, who quickly lost debutant opener Jake Weatherald (0), Marnus Labuschagne (9), Steve Smith (17), and Usman Khawaja (2).

With a 40-run lead, England was in a favorable position, relying on openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to extend that advantage. However, a stunning catch by Mitchell Starc resulted in Crawley's second duck, leaving England at 0/1 in just 0.5 overs.

Duckett and Pope then stabilized the innings, with Duckett displaying aggression by hitting boundaries against both Starc and Boland. The pair effectively rotated the strike, with several well-placed shots falling short due to the slow outfield, as evidenced by four threes scored by Pope.

The duo's half-century partnership was achieved in just over 10 overs. Duckett narrowly avoided a leg-before-wicket dismissal on the final ball of the session, ensuring no further wickets fell.

On day one, England won the toss and chose to bat first. Despite Ben Duckett's promising start (21 runs off 20 balls), England found themselves in trouble at 39/3, with star player Joe Root also dismissed for a duck by Starc. A partnership between Ollie Pope (46 off 58 balls) and Harry Brook helped stabilize the innings, but England lost half their side for just 115 runs. Brook (52 off 61 balls) and Jamie Smith (33 off 22 balls) attempted to counterattack, but Starc (7/58) and Doggett (2/27) restricted England's scoring, leading to their total of 172 runs in 32.5 overs.

Brief Scores: Australia: 132 (Alex Carey 26, Cameron Green 24, Ben Stokes 5/23) vs England: 172 and 59/1 (Ben Duckett 28*, Ollie Pope 24*, Mitchell Starc 1/13).