Zak Crawley Makes A Stark Assessment As England Struggle Against Australia In Ashes 2025: 'They've Made It Very Hard'

Adelaide [Australia]: Zak Crawley admitted that England have been unable to replicate their style of play in the past in Australia and conceded that they are staring down the barrel heading into the final day of the Adelaide Test, as per ESPNcricinfo.

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Crawley was England's top-scorer on day four with a composed 85, but his dismissal, stumped by Alex Carey off Nathan Lyon, left Australia firmly in control. The hosts will begin day five needing just four wickets to secure a 3-0 lead with two matches remaining, wrapping up a home Ashes series at the earliest possible stage.

England had arrived in Down Under hoping to overturn their poor recent record in Australia, but have been comprehensively outplayed. Their trademark ultra-attacking batting has largely been shelved, with England scoring at 3.79 runs per over across the series, well behind Australia's 4.34. Crawley acknowledged that the shift was more about the difference in quality between the two sides.

"They've bowled very well, and haven't given us a lot," Crawley said on TNT Sports, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"You look at (Scott) Boland, just for one of them. He just very rarely misses, and so it's hard to play that way that we have in the past, perhaps," he noted.

"They have to get credit for that there, and they set good fields, in fairness to them. It's just an attritional style of cricket over here, and they don't allow it. It's not as easy to score quickly out here," he added.

"They're the best bowling attack that I've played against, for sure - especially in these conditions, when it was spinning like that for (Nathan) Lyon. They don't give you anything, they make the ball move, and they're relentless," Crawley praised.

"We knew that coming in. We knew we had to be at our best, and unfortunately, we've been just short of that. But in fairness to them, they've been phenomenal for the last three games," he said.

England captain Ben Stokes earlier insisted that his dressing room is not a place for weak men, and Crawley was more honest, accepting that England are simply being beaten by the better team.

"It's been tough. They're a very, very good side," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"I feel like it was always going to be tough coming up here against them. They were the favorites going into it, and they've proven why. They've played very, very well and made it very hard for us," he noted.

"Obviously, we've been slightly short of our best, but a lot of credit has to go to them: they've not allowed us to be our best, really," he added.

Crawley said, “You're always looking to get better and find ways that you can compete better. I do like to keep it simple though, and I do just think they've been better than us. A lot of the time, especially in England, we look internally and go, 'Oh, what could we have done better?'”

"But they haven't allowed us to do (that). They've played really well. Obviously ,we could have been better, and that's a given, but they've made it very hard for us. They're a top team in their own conditions, and they've made it hard for us," he noted.

Crawley took 28 balls to score his first run and finished with a strike rate of 56.29, well below his career average. However, he showed his reason of his low strike rate, pointing to the constant accuracy of Australia's bowling attack.

"I was just trying to see-ball and hit-ball, really. I wasn't purposely a bit slower," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"They bowled well. They didn't give me a lot early. I was just trying to just play every ball on its merits... it wasn't on purpose," he added.

England require a further 228 runs with four wickets in hand on the final day to keep the series alive.

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"It's disappointing," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

"We came here to win the Ashes, and we're staring down the barrel now. There'll still be plenty to play for (in Melbourne and Sydney), and we'll definitely view it like that," he added.