England's team for the match against Queensland was supposed to be their team for the first Test - but serious consideration must be given to replacing John Crawley with Rob Key. Yes Key is not a middle-order batsman, yes he's unproven - but that has to be better than a proven failure like Crawley. As we keep hearing, Crawley is an accomplished player of spin, but that means nothing with Messrs McGrath, Gillespie and Lee or Bichel queuing up for a crack at him. It's not just Crawley's lack of runs that is the problem - it's the manner in which he's failing to get them. Today he blundered to 7 off 40 balls, another stuttering innings in complete contrast to the rollicking strokeplay of Key on the tour so far. Since his supposedly seminal century against India at Lord's, Crawley has batted like a haunted man. Then there is Crawley's most vital statistic: in the first innings of 11 Ashes Tests, he averages 16.27. That's less than Neil Foster, less than Graham Dilley, less than Paul Allott. It is an embarrassment. Rob Smyth

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