Zak Crawley says Bazball 'winds up' Aussies, makes vow to 'front up' ahead of Ashes

On Friday, a candid interview with Zak Crawley dropped in The Times.

There was talk of his upbringing and supporting Charlton over Millwall - a tragedy for his family.

But what would open the eyes of Australian cricket fans was talk of The Ashes and, more specifically, Bazball.

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Crawley says it's a word they don't use.

"I think it begins and ends with the team selection, really," he said.

"They pick the players they think can play aggressively, and then we all go at our natural tempo, and they trust us to execute it."

But then the talk turns to Australia, and the Aussie relationship with the word 'Bazball'.

"I know, 'Bazball' really winds them up, doesn't it?" he said.

"Which is great. If they get wound up, then that's better for us.

"All that stuff after the last series, talking about 'the moral Ashes' after what happened with Jonny Bairstow [being stumped controversially], that was just a consequence of us drawing the series. In my eyes, if they'd won, they would never have said it, so it's a compliment that they felt the need."

The moral comment is interesting, considering it was England batter Harry Brook who said ahead of the final Test at The Oval in 2023 that a win would be a "moral victory".

England did win, and the series was tied 2-2, but Australia retained the urn.

Pat Cummins saw the funny side of it after the series when he said 2-2 was "a thumping, morally."

Nonetheless, Crawley's comments provide a juicy build-up to a series just over a month away.

"Jonny Bairstow always said, 'You've got to stick your chest out against Australia'. And I think he's right, even if that's not your personality, you've got to show them," he said.

They're very competitive, they're very good at cricket, and they're in your face and want to get on top of you. So it's important to stand up for yourself, and I feel like we showed in the India series we're not just nice guys who are going to roll over. That'll be important in Australia, to front up at times.

"And I like that side of it."