Zak Crawley has to take a lot of credit for his aggression: Ponting

Before the 2023 Ashes in England, the biggest question on everyone’s lips was if England’s ultra-aggressive Bazball could counter one of the best bowling units in world cricket. Safe to say, it countered the Australian bowling units and left the Pat Cummins-led bowling unit burning at several points during the pulsating series. 

One of the architects behind England’s comeback (2-2) was their opener, Zak Crawley, whose 480 runs were one of the biggest differences between the two teams. Not only did Crawley’s runs weigh their weight in gold, but they also came at a staggering strike-rate of 88.72, which often left Australia burning. 

His 189 at Old Trafford could have nearly landed England the killer blow and tilted the series if not for the persistent rains. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who also was a pundit with Sky Sports during the course of the series, admitted that it was Crawley’s sustained aggression that was the biggest differentiator. 

"Zak Crawley has got to take a lot of credit, he was the one going into the series who was under the most pressure. That 180 he got at Manchester was as good a Test match batting as you could see…as I said it had [Pat Cummins] and the boys scratching their heads as to how they were going to bowl at him,” Ponting told SEN Tassie. 

"It was more their top-order batting, I think, [that] we struggled to come to grips with," he said. "The way that Crawley and Duckett were able to play at the start of every innings, really, they got England off to flying starts and put pressure straight back on the Australian attack. When that momentum started to build it was hard for the Australians to rein it back in.

So, did Bazball successfully counter Ozball? Ponting thinks so. 

"There was a lot of talk about Bazball and how England would approach it, and would that style stand up against the quality of the Australian attack - looking back, it probably did.

Australia’s bowling attack remained largely unchanged during the series, and even the calls for including Michael Neser fell on deaf ears. Alongside that, Ponting also insisted that the likes of Lance Morris await in the dug-out and could really make some difference in the future of the Australian bowling unit. 

"As it went on, felt to me like they could have brought [Michael] Neser in at some stage in the right conditions. But I think what they did selection wise was right,” he added.

“We know there is enough [depth] underneath these guys, [Lance] Morris and those guys sitting back in the wings. Think we've got enough there and at different times I reckon through the next 12 months we might see some different faces in our bowling line-up."