When Zak Crawley sent a crisp boundary off his bat during the opening of the previous Ashes series, it was as if he had found the magic formula to solve England’s ongoing batting issues in Australia.

That moment painted a picture of Crawley as a player seemingly destined for this tour, despite statistics suggesting otherwise.

England’s fascination with Crawley is rooted in the memory of his graceful stride, swift hands, and the perfect swing of his bat that sent Pat Cummins’ delivery speeding toward the extra cover boundary.

Memorable performances have also left their mark: a remarkable century at Old Trafford in the summer of 2023, scoring 189 from 182 balls, and his impressive 77 during his return in the 2021-22 Ashes.

Crawley’s career has been puzzling, often excelling against the world’s top-ranked Test team while struggling against others. Even though he led in scoring during the early 2024 tour of India and played a crucial role in a significant innings at Leeds, mediocrity has always loomed nearby.

Zak Crawley walks off after completing a pair in the opening Test of the Ashes in Australia

England’s selectors have persisted with Crawley, trusting him to blossom in the biggest series

England are fixated with the combination of Crawley and Ben Duckett at the top of the order

A year ago, New Zealand’s Matt Henry exploited Crawley’s weaknesses, dismissing him in each of their six encounters for a total of just 52 runs. Yet, the conversations among management have often focused not on Crawley’s past performances but on his potential for future brilliance.

England’s selectors have persisted with him, trusting him to blossom in their biggest series. An extension once again of that one perfect stroke – easily recallable because of its heavy meme usage – masking his flaws.

England’s supporters will be hoping they are proved right, of course, given the magnitude of what is a stake this winter, but with his pair at the Perth Stadium – in which he failed to make the second over in either innings – contributing to a quickfire eight-wicket defeat, his record at world level is naturally back under scrutiny.

One of the rudiments of this England set-up under McCullum has been ‘keeping this group really tight.’ He is a coach that regularly promotes the notion of one game too many for a player trumping one too few, but the fear is that a close unit becomes a closed shop.

The two-day defeat by Australia was Crawley’s 60th Test and no England top-six player to have lasted as long can match his ratio of a nought every five appearances.

Jonny Bairstow, the player closest to him this century with 14 in 73, can at least offset his blobs with a clutch of memorable game-changing contributions. Contrast that to neither of Crawley’s man-of-the-match awards coming in winning causes.

With five, Crawley also has the lowest number of hundreds amongst the 35 frontline English Test batsmen to have won at least 60 caps. Ollie Pope, who has made one extra appearance, has nine to his name.

Crawley’s four off the first ball of the previous Ashes series has taken on  mythical status

Jacob Bethell must surely be considered for a recall if Crawley fails again in the second Test

And yet it was Pope – who also possesses an average superior by four-and-a-half runs and held the position of vice-captain at the time – that came under pressure for his place when Jacob Bethell’s half-century spree in New Zealand provided England with a selection headache at the start of the 2025 summer.

Bethell was sat on the sidelines during the 2-2 series draw with India when Michael Vaughan dubbed Crawley ‘the luckiest England player of all time’.

The 22-year-old opened during his schoolboy days and must surely be considered for a recall if Crawley fails again in next week’s second Test in Brisbane. Such has been the level of loyalty, however, that it would not surprise if the status quo was maintained even then.

England are fixated with the Duckett-Crawley combination: left-hand, right-hand, little and large, disrupting opposition bowlers’ lines and lengths. Like Bethell, the next cab from the England Lions rank, the 6ft 7ins Ben McKinney, is left-handed.

Ashes series tend to either make or finish careers, and the challenge as he approaches his 28th birthday is to alter the perception that he is no better a player than the one who made his international debut six years ago.

A start would be to end his repetitive mode of dismissal, prodding away from his body. He rarely gets out pulling, partly because he has a strong back-foot game but also that opponents don’t veer away from probing off-stump just shy of a good length, awaiting an error.

Against India last summer, it led to a handful of dismissals and a couple of front-foot gropes at Mitchell Starc over the weekend have debunked the theory that he is better suited to bouncy pitches and high pace.

Bazball has largely been founded on gambles, and with its legacy set to be defined by this series, time is running out for Crawley to prove he has not been a bad one.