Ashes 2025-26: Michael Vaughan says England should stick with Zak Crawley

Crawley started the Ashes series with a pair in the first Test in Perth, facing just 11 deliveries in the match.

He has since made scores of 76 and 44 in the second Test in Brisbane, and hit 85 in the second innings of the third Test in Adelaide.

The Kent man’s No. 37 at the start of England’s chase in the fourth Test in Melbourne was vital for the tourists who recorded their first win in Australia in 15 years and cut the series deficit to 3-1.

“Zach Crawley is frustrating my life,” said Vaughan, who captained England to the famous Ashes title in 2005.

“His concentration levels are not the strongest. If you go to the beginning of the series where he played the big booms, those drives are gone now. He’s not chasing the ball outside the off-stump.

“But I was watching him today and that shouldn’t make you a quality opener.”

In Sydney, Crawley came back down to earth as he hit 77 in the fourth Test of England’s previous Ashes tour in 2021-22 – an innings that launched his career.

He has now opened the batting in 103 Test innings and returned an average of 30.82 – the lowest of any batsman in Test history for the most chances at the top of the order.

But Vaughan, who made three centuries as an opener on England’s Ashes tour in 2002-03, believes England must persevere with Crawley in the wake of this latest defeat in Australia.

“I hear fans around the world saying Crawley is averaging 30, but there is an older average than him at the moment,” Vaughan said. “It’s just focus.

“I know there is a lot in my tank and I think England should stick with it.

“The move he made today was fantastic but he needs to understand the concentration levels required at this type of level to continue averaging 40 to 45 over the next two or three years.

“I think he can do it if he can find that focus.”