“You can’t be driving at Mitchell Starc” - Nasser Hussain opens up on Zak Crawley’s inconsistent form

Former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain feels there wouldn’t be major changes in the England playing XI for the second Test against Australia, when these two sides meet on Thursday, December 4, at The Gabba in Brisbane.

Advertisment

Interestingly, England suffered an eight-wicket defeat to start the Ashes 2025-26 campaign on a worrying note. However, they will have more than 10 days to regroup and play a two-day warm-up game with Prime Minister’s XI.

“I don’t see them changing too much, to be honest. It’s not a side to overreact to and change. They’ve got a lot of time off now. There’s a two-day game in Canberra that I don’t think any of them are going to play, so they’re going to have a lot of time. It’s how they handle that time and how they get away from this, but also come together and be ready for Brisbane,” Hussain told Sky Sports.

Furthermore, Nasser also talked about the England opening batter Zak Crawley’s inconsistent form. Notably, the England opener bagged a pair in the Perth Test. Interestingly, Crawley now holds an unwanted record for the most ducks (10) by an opener in the World Test Championship.

“So I don’t see them making many changes. Crawley bagged a pair, and they have built Crawley up, and they’ve backed Crawley and let him be for this Ashes series. They believe that Crawley would go well in Australia because of the type of player he is, but two and two — he’s got two ducks — so he’s going to have to really dig deep and work it out. You can’t be driving at Mitchell Starc in the first over of an Ashes Test, because that will cause you problems," he added.

“So it’s a really hard, high mountain to climb now for England, but they do have a lot of character. They have a captain with a lot of character. They’re going to need that from Stokes,” he concluded.

Speaking about his Test numbers, Crawley has accumulated 3313 runs from 60 games at an average of 30.96 with five centuries and 19 half-centuries. Delving into the details of his Test record in Australia, he has played four Tests, scoring 166 runs at an average of 20.75 with a half-century.

Advertisment

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!