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Craddock's real worry with “bang or bust” England Ashes squad
Nicholas Quinlan • October 13th, 2025 8:48 pm
Robert Craddock believes that the decision not to have Ollie Pope as vice-captain is a worry for this England side, who are looking to win their first Ashes series away from home since 2010/11.
Last month the English Cricket Board selected their 16-man squad that will travel to Australia to try and reclaim the urn for the first time since 2015.
With that in mind, England have chosen to take a new approach in regard to their bowling attack, having selected a plethora of pace bowlers such as Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse with the intention of trying to match the pace of the Australians.
And this approach, according to Craddock, will see them focus on trying to dominate the first couple of test matches.
But for that to happen, it does require their captain, Ben Stokes, being available, considering he is recovering from a shoulder injury.
“They’re going to try and blitz us with five fast bowlers who can all bowl between probably 140 to 148 (kph),” Craddock declared on SEN’s Whateley.
“They’ll go hard and they’ll go home. I sense there will be no middle ground with this England squad. They’ll frontload their test series, unlike last time when they rested Stuart Broad in the Test at the Gabba early on.
“This time, it is all guns blazing. Jofra Archer first Test, Mark Wood first Test.
“But it all hinges on Ben Stokes’ fitness. As Ricky Ponting said, he’s actually their best bowler even though he is an all-rounder, but they are going to try and blast us out.”
However, the veteran journalist thinks that the most concerning element of this squad is the fact that Ollie Pope has been demoted from his vice-captaincy position, which makes him more vulnerable to losing his position in the eleven.
“I thought it was significant that Ollie Pope has lost the vice-captaincy to Harry Brook because that says to me that Pope is in serious strife,” he added.
“And that’s a worry for England, it really is. I just think it is a bang or bust squad.”
The Ashes get underway from November 21 with the first Test taking place in Perth at Optus Stadium.
