Key Duels of Ashes 2025: Zak Crawley and Mitchell Starc face off in a battle of risk vs reward

By Megh Mandaliya

Few players polarise opinion in English cricket as much as Zak Crawley. The right-hander’s long stride can neutralise the new Kookaburra when England begin their Ashes campaign on 21st November, but it also invites danger, especially early in his innings.

Awaiting him will be Mitchell Starc, the left-arm spearhead who still bends the new ball at 90mph and loves nothing more than a fresh pitch and a willing front-foot driver.

Crawley has faced Starc for 195 balls across two Ashes.

The Kent batter swaggers an impressive average of 77.5 against the Australian veteran, having thumped him for 155 runs at a strike rate of almost 80. 

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Thrives

Interestingly, of the 195 balls Crawley has faced from Starc, 119 have been dots, yet his 155 runs have come from just 76 scoring deliveries, reflecting how much he thrives on boundary hitting against the 35-year-old.

For the visitors, the early overs will often hinge on how Crawley handles Starc’s opening burst. And both tend to excel early on, when the ball still carries shine and bite. 

Crawley and Starc in the first 10 overs (Tests)

Crawley often sets the tone in his first 10 overs, a period that has produced 43% of his Test runs. 

Those bravado include 216 fours and a handful of sixes, meaning that roughly 60% of his total career boundaries (216 of 470) come within the first 10 overs.

Yet that aggression comes with its cost. Crawley’s dot-ball percentage in those overs sits at 73%, showing that when he’s not finding the rope, he can often get bogged down, and that’s exactly where the New South Wales quick thrives.

Feared

Starc’s own new-ball figures capture why he’s been one of the game’s most feared seamers.

In his opening spells across Tests, Starc has delivered 719.1 overs, conceding 2,242 runs for 89 wickets.

Starc’s economy (3.12) and dot-ball percentage (78) also highlight his effectiveness in striking early and controlling the run flow with the new cherry.  

Crawley’s only two dismissals against Starc came in the first 10 overs, the same window where he has racked up 83 runs against the latter, making the new-ball period decisive for both.

If Starc finds just a hint of swing under Gabba lights, his full-pitched thunderbolts will become nearly indomitable.

But if Crawley remains unscathed from the opening barrage, as he did in Old Trafford in 2023, he has the power to turn it into a counter-attack that forces Australia onto the back foot.

So when Crawley steps out to face Starc with two slips and a gully waiting, much of the attention will be on England’s ‘Bazball’.

Starc, though, is the perfect antidote, a bowler who turns aggression into opportunity with brio.

If the England opener can blunt Starc’s opening burst, they could roar into the game; if not, Starc‘s late swing might once again silence the optimism before it even begins.

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