England’s persistence with Zak Crawley constitutes "a blind spot unlike any other" Mark Butcher has seen, the former England batter said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.
Crawley has retained his place in England’s squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, despite a torrid tour of New Zealand and a testing start to the County Championship season. Crawley was worked over by Black Caps quick Matt Henry in England’s 2-1 series victory, averaging just 8.67, and while he has contributed two important half-centuries to Kent’s cause, a 2025 County Championship average of 29 before England’s squad was announced wouldn't have convinced his doubters.
Butcher: Crawley's selection has defied logic
Among those doubters is Butcher, who wondered whether a lean run against Zimbabwe and India could bring an end to Crawley’s time as an England opener. "You would think and hope that if you get through three or four Test matches in the summer that the clamour and realisation that he [Crawley] isn’t the answer to England’s opening batting position after all will come down as clear as day on everyone," he said.
"But that might not be the case. We have been here before. So it’s incumbent on him to make runs and incumbent on the rest to try not to be surprised if he gets picked. A lot of the time he’s been selected has defied logic, which is why I’m smiling away at the thought that maybe we will have a definitive answer of what the future of Zak Crawley holds."
🗣️ "There's been a blind spot with Crawley unlike any other that I've ever seen, and the spinner one is just still rather baffling."@markbutcher72 reacts to England's Test squad to face Zimbabwe.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) May 2, 2025
🤝 @remitly pic.twitter.com/SviyHDbWwV
Should India and Australia get the better of Crawley and England, however, Butcher felt that change would be inevitable. "The only thing I will say is this… once the India and Australia Test series are over, should they not go particularly well either for individuals or the team then it might well be a change of everything. In which case, perhaps normal rules are applied again. And people get picked upon performances they’ve put in over a period of time and selection goes back to a mode that is more recognisable to a mode in the past. And that’s always been a possibility. No leadership or regime at the top lasts forever. And very few of them survive away Ashes series, particularly ones that don’t go well. If that is the case, we might be having a completely new discussion. But we may have to wait until February when that happens."
Butcher on Bashir: Enormous amount of blind faith being shown
Crawley isn’t the only player England have backed, with Shoaib Bashir retained despite a season average north of 150 in the County Championship. After impressing in his first two series against India and West Indies, Bashir has struggled, with a Test average a tick over 40.
"I think over a pretty long sample size now, it’s been proven that he has an enormous amount of work to do," said Butcher. "So the bolter who provided two five-fors in Test match cricket last year has now really hit the skids. Again it’s a conversation we have so often on the show about the lack of options when it comes to picking spin bowlers. The two guys who have either more Test experience, as in Jack Leach, or is arguably the better option and bowler than the lot of them in Liam Dawson are not once again given a mention or given a shout. It needs to be sorted out prior to India and the Ashes really.
"Either they have a hotline to something Bashir is working on that is making it difficult for him to bowl with any sort of consistency at Glamorgan, or there is an enormous amount of blind faith being shown in a young man. I sincerely hope it’s the first, but I probably feel it’s more likely to be the latter.
"I just think there’s been a blind spot with Crawley unlike any other I’ve ever seen. And the spinner one is just still rather baffling."
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