Ben Duckett-Zak Crawley the next long-term opening pair for England in 'Bazball' era?

They have become the most successful opening pair for England since the days of Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, which disbanded when Strauss retired in 2012. England has notably tried many openers since Strauss's retirement and later Cook's retirement in 2018. These openers include Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Trott, Adam Lyth, Alex Lees, Dan Lawrence, Gary Ballance, Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Denly, Sam Robson, Mark Stoneman, Alex Hales, Michael Carberry, Nick Compton etc. In all, atleast 20 opening batters have been tried in total.

England's opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett became the country's most successful opening pair of the last 11 years on Saturday. Going by the numbers, they could be a long-term opening pair for England in the long format. In the fifth and final Ashes Test, the duo added 79 runs in the second innings. In the first innings, they added 62 runs.

Now in 21 innings, Crawley-Duckett has scored 964 runs together as a pair. These runs have come at an average of 48.20. They have scored five fifty-run partnerships and two century stands for England. Their best partnership is 233 runs. Crawley and Duckett together have become the epitome of England's 'Bazball' approach under skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, scoring runs at a high run rate of 5.41 and playing positive and attacking cricket. They have become the most successful opening pair for England since the days of Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, which disbanded when Strauss retired in 2012.

Between 2006-12, Cook and Strauss added 5,253 runs in 132 innings at an average of 40.40. They had 14 half-century stands and 21-century stands as a pair, with the best partnership of 229 runs. They are the fifth-most successful pair in Test history and England's best. England has notably tried many openers since Strauss's retirement and later Cook's retirement in 2018. These openers include Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Trott, Adam Lyth, Alex Lees, Dan Lawrence, Gary Ballance, Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Denly, Sam Robson, Mark Stoneman, Alex Hales, Michael Carberry, Nick Compton etc. In all, atleast 20 opening batters have been tried in total.

None of these openers proved to be a long-term success for England and faced the exit door due to inconsistency. Most of these aforementioned openers did not even get to play even 20, sometimes 10 Tests and scored less than 2,000 runs in their stint. Moeen though is an exception since he is an all-rounder who has featured in middle-order. Out of all these openers, Crawley and Duckett have proven to be the most successful. In 39 Tests, Crawley has scored 2,204 runs at an average of 31.48, with four centuries and 10 fifties in 72 innings. In 15 Tests, Duckett has scored 1,121 runs at an average of 43.11, with two tons and seven fifties in 28 innings.

In this Ashes, Duckett and Crawley have added 359 runs in 9 innings at an average of 39.88, with three half-century stands and best partnership of 91 runs. They are the first opening pair since Strauss-Cook in Ashes 2010/11 to have three 50-plus stands in an Ashes series.

Crawley is the leading run-scorer of Ashes 2023 so far. In five innings, he has scored 480 runs at an average of 53.33 and a strike rate of 88.72. He has scored one century and two fifties in nine innings, with the best score of 189. Crawley has scored highest runs by an England opener in home Ashes in the 21st century. The highest runs by an England opener in home Ashes are by John Edrich (554 runs in 1968).

Duckett has had a decent 2023 Ashes as well, scoring 321 runs in nine innings at an average of 35.66, with two half-centuries and best score of 98. He has scored his runs at a strike rate of 75.88. Coming to the match, England's second innings is going on and they have a lead of over 200 runs.

In their first innings, Australia was bundled out for 295 runs and they had a 12-run lead. They lost wickets at regular intervals. At the top of order, Steve Smith (71 in 123 balls, with six fours) and Usman Khawaja (47 in 157 balls with seven fours) delivered key contributions which kept Australia's innings together. Down the order, skipper Pat Cummins (36) and an aggressive Todd Murphy (34 in 39 balls with two fours and three sixes) helped the Aussies gain the lead, putting on a 49-run stand. Smith and Cummins had also put on a 54-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Chris Woakes (3/61) emerged as the pick of the bowlers for England, while Root, Wood and Broad took two wickets each. James Anderson got one wicket. In their first innings, England was bundled out for 283 runs after being put to bat first by Australia. Harry Brook (85 in 91 balls with 11 fours and two sixes) top-scored for England and had a 111-run stand with Moeen Ali (34 in 37 balls with three fours and two sixes) after England slipped to 73/3. Later a 49-run stand for the eighth wicket between Mark Wood (28) and Chris Woakes (36) helped England reach a decent first-innings score.

Mitchell Starc (4/82) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Josh Hazlewood and Todd Murphy took two wickets each while skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh got a wicket each. Australia is leading the five-match series 2-1. Though Australia has regained the Ashes urn, England can still go out of this home series respectfully after a 2-2 draw. (ANI)

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