Ahead of the Ashes 2025 Pink-Ball Test, Iceland Cricket joked Crawley would bag a third duck after his Perth pair. Crawley struck 76, rescuing England from early collapse, prompting Iceland Cricket to quip they had “motivated” him.
Ahead of the Pink-Ball Test of the Ashes 2025, Iceland Cricket trolled England opener Zak Crawley by predicting a duck against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday, December 4. England, led by Ben Stokes, are aiming to make a comeback in the ongoing second Test following an eight-wicket defeat to the hosts at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Opting to bat first by skipper Stokes, England suffered early setbacks as they were reduced to 5/2 following dismissals of Ben Duckett (0) and Ollie Pope (0), both removed by Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc in quick succession, leaving the visitors reeling and in urgent need of a stabilising partnership at the top of the innings.
Following the dismissal of Ollie Pope, opener Zak Crawley was joined by former England captain Joe Root, not only to carry on the team’s innings but also to revive the batting from a shambolic situation that threatened to derail England’s first innings, hinting at the possibility of a similar collapse in both innings of the Perh Opener.
Iceland Cricket’s Duck Prediction for Zak Crawley
England opener Zak Crawley had a disastrous start to the ongoing Ashes series as he was dismissed for a duck in both innings of the first Test in Perth. With this, Crawley became the England opener ever to record a “pair” (two ducks) in an Ashes Test. The twin ducks in the Perth Opener have put the England opener under immense scrutiny heading into the Pink-Ball Test.
Iceland Cricket took a brutal dig at Zak Crawley by predicting the England opener’s third duck in the Ashes series. Taking to their X handle (formerly Twitter), Iceland Cricket joked that fans to wake up early to witness Crawley failing again in the ongoing Ashes series.
“We have set our alarms for 04:01 Icelandic time to witness Zak Crawley’s third Ashes duck. Duck for starter, mains, and dessert,” Iceland Cricket wrote.
Scroll to load tweet…
Iceland Cricket has been quite active on social media, especially on X, known for humorous and sarcastic takes on world cricket. They regularly post witty jibes at teams, players, and coaches across formats. Iceland Cricket is also famous for its tongue-in-cheek commentary on global cricket events.
Zak Crawley Responded to Iceland Cricket in Style
Iceland Cricket’s duck prediction turned into a joke as Zak Crawley responded in style with a fluent fifty in the first innings of the Pink-Ball Test. Crawley and Joe Root took charge of England’s innings following early setbacks.
The pair revived the visitors’ batting with a 117-run stand for the third wicket before the opener’s dismissal at 122/3. Zak Crawley played a brilliant innings of 76 off 93 balls before he was dismissed by Michael Neser, bringing an end to his fluent knock that stabilised England’s innings after an early collapse.
Following Crawley’s comeback knock after twin ducks in the Perth opener, Iceland Cricket humorously took credit for his innings, stating they had motivated him to perform better.
“You see how we can motivate players to do better!,” Iceland Cricket wrote.
Scroll to load tweet…
Since his Test debut in 2019, Zak Crawley has amassed 3389 runs, including 5 centuries and 20 fifties, at an average of 31.37 in 61 matches. In the Ashes, Crawley has a good record, amassing 722 runs, including a century and 4 fifties, at an average of 40.11 in 10 matches.