Zak Crawley Opens Up On Australian Spinner Todd Murphy Ahead Of Sydney Test: 'Envisage Us Trying To Put Some Pressure'

Australia vs England: England batter Zak Crawley hopes to end the Australian Ashes tour with two wins, having lost the prestigious urn already. He said it would say a lot about their team if they manage to perform well in the final Test and they would be trying to create pressure on the opposition.

After breaking their winless streak in Australia, which lasted 18 Test matches, during the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, England will be aiming to carry some positive memories when they take a flight back home after the New Year's Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The team's wait for its first series win on Aussie soil has continued since the 2010/11 season

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The win at Melbourne has instilled plenty of confidence in the group, and Crawley, England's top run-getter in this series, highlighted how important it is for them to end the series on a high after facing so much challenge in the first three Test matches, where they lost crucial moments several times and, as a result, fumbled the Ashes urn.

"I think there is a big difference just internally in the group," Crawley said when asked about the difference between losing 4-1 or 3-2," he said, according to ICC.

"It just shows a lot about our group and how united we are if we can get a win. It might not go our way, but if we can put up a good performance this week, that says a lot about the group," he added.

Crawley is so far the third-highest run-getter with 256 runs in four Tests at an average of 32.00 and a strike rate of over 64, with two fifties in eight innings and a best score of 85.

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The lanky opener gave indications that spinner Todd Murphy, playing his first-ever home Ashes Test in the absence of an injured Nathan Lyon, would be put under pressure if he is a part of the team sheet at Sydney. So far, Murphy has played two Tests against England in the UK, picking seven wickets at an average of over 25.

"Whoever plays, I think that's the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people," Crawley said.

"Todd's a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers," he added.
Murphy is likely to make his home soil Test debut, having previously featured during tours to England, India and Sri Lanka, with England having included a frontline spinner option as well, Shoaib Bashir for the series finale.

England's aggressive batting was a defining feature of their approach to the fourth innings chase at Melbourne, and Crawley's comments suggest that mindset will remain unchanged as they look to end the Ashes campaign on a positive note.

England XII: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.