Stuart Broad Says England Star Is in ‘Horrible Place’ Heading Into Second Test
Former fast bowler Stuart Broad has described an England star as being in a 'horrible place' as the visitors look to reignite their Ashes hopes in the second Test.
England's bid to reclaim the Ashes got off to a disastrous start, as they were beaten by eight wickets in the opening Test.
The match was over within two days as Australia chased down a target of 205 in the fourth innings, helped by Travis Head's century off just 69 balls.
For travelling supporters, it was an all-too-familiar sight, with England's batting collapses handing the game away.
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During the first innings, they lost their final five wickets in just 18 balls, while in the second innings they lost three wickets in six deliveries.
Harry Brook was arguably the only England batsman to emerge from Perth with any credit, scoring a half-century on the opening day.
But it was a thoroughly disappointing match for opener Zak Crawley, who faced just 11 balls across two innings without scoring a run.
On both occasions, he fell to fast bowler Mitchell Starc.
In the first innings, he edged an attempted drive to first slip Usman Khawaja and in the second innings he was caught and bowled by Starc.
Although there is no suggestion that England will change their batting line-up ahead of the second Test, pressure is mounting on Crawley ahead of the match in Brisbane.
The Gabba Test will be a day-night match, meaning a pink ball will be used, which behaves differently and can make batting more challenging.
Broad has now explained how he believes Crawley will be feeling ahead of that crucial match.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: "He's in a horrible place at the moment, in the sense that he's got out twice in the first over to Mitchell Starc, who is in the form of his life currently.
"And you're going to get to the Gabba with a pink ball and he's going to be facing Starc.
"He knows he's going to play. Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are very consistent with selection, they're not the sort of captain and coach that are going to tinker.
"That'll be the same group of players if everyone's fit, to go and do the job.
Broad also reflected on his dismissals in Brisbane.
"It's tricky. Starc took an unbelievable caught and bowl to get Crawley out in the second innings," he continued.
"You could go, 'that's just unlucky, one's chip turned, it could have gone in the gap, but it didn't, it was an amazing bit of athleticism.
"But his first innings dismissal was a bad one, again driving at a ball wasn't quite there."
Topics: Cricket
James Taylor