England batsman Zak Crawley has said his side will continue to struggle against Australia’s bowlers in the fifth and final Test of the Ashes 2025-26 series. England head into the final Test of the series after finally ending their long winning drought in Australia. The Three Lions won on Australian soil after 5,468 days, winning the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) by four wickets.
When I successfully avoided bleaching series 0-5, England will now look to end the series on a high with another commanding victory. Ahead of the fifth Test, Zak Crawley assured that England will stick with their attacking approach and look to put pressure on Todd Murphy if he features in the playing XI.
“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team is to try to put pressure on people. Todd is a very good bowler, but I can imagine we’ll try to put some pressure on him like we do on all their bowlers. There’s going to be some risks involved and if it turns, it’s definitely going to be a threat,” Crawley said ahead of the fifth Test.
The opening batsman added that finishing the series 3–2 would mean a lot for the team and would speak to the strong character in the group.
“I think there’s a big difference just within the group. It shows a lot about our group and how united we are if we can win. It (the series) might not go our way, but if we perform well this week I think it will show a lot about us,” he added.
Crawley is currently the third highest run-scorer in the series, with 256 runs from eight innings at an average of 32, including two fifties to his credit. The right-handed batsman started the tour with two ducks but made a strong comeback with impressive knocks of 76 and 44 in Brisbane, followed by a well-built 85 in Adelaide.
He went on to play an innings-winning 37 in the fourth innings of the run chase in Melbourne, helping England get off to a flying start while chasing down a target of 175 runs. Crawley, who faced heavy criticism at the start of the series, will now be looking to finish on a high in the final Test.
Meantime, England have named their 12-man squad for the final Test the likes of Shoaib Bashir and Matthew Potts were included after Gus Atkinson was axed from the series.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
January 2, 2026
