Ashes icons Sir Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan have thrown their support behind Zak Crawley keeping his position in the England team for the second Test against Australia. The tourists suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat in Perth last week, with the match wrapped up in just two days.

Crawley endured a tough game at the Optus Stadium, recording a golden duck as he faced just 11 deliveries across both innings before being dismissed twice by Mitchell Starc. The 27-year-old has been England's regular opener since 2022, following Brendon McCullum's appointment as head coach and Ben Stokes taking over the captaincy.

Next week's second Test, at The Gabba in Brisbane, is expected to see Crawley retain his place alongside Ben Duckett at the top of England's batting order. Both Cook and Vaughan are convinced that Crawley deserves to keep his spot despite failing to trouble the scorers in the first Test.

READ MORE: Michael Vaughan warned England would be 'absolutely stupid' after crucial Ashes decision

READ MORE: Justin Langer tears into England as he reignites Ashes feud after forcing TV apology

"England are happy with getting three innings out of him, aren't they? That's what he's done in the past, and why he keeps playing in those and he tends to change the momentum of the game," Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast - provided by The Overlap and Betfair.

"He gets 80 or 100, it tends to be an unbelievable innings. He's the best batter to ever average 80 in terms of the standard he plays. So actually, he's having to deliver three out of eight now for him to work.

"I saw a stat that 41 per cent of his innings end in single figures as an opening batsman.

"Zak Crawley is doing what Zak Crawley does. He's been backed for three years until this moment. The decision on Zak Crawley will be whether this works over the next eight innings.

"If he plays three, hopefully four innings in this series and changes the game, that's why he's been picked and why he's employed.

"Sometimes I look at him and the innings he plays are unbelievable. But they've backed him now and won't change that until after Sydney. He plays all the way through for me."

Vaughan shared Cook's view, with the former England skipper also featuring on the podcast. Vaughan stated why Crawley's spot in the side is 'safe', while cautioning about Australia's likely strategy against the England opener.

"He's probably the safest player in the team," Vaughan added. "He's been chosen to play the way England want him to and they've gone consistent over three years.

"This is why they've been so consistent and at the first time of asking, if you played Zak Crawley bingo, you'd have probably had the full house after the first over.

"Big, big drives and then gets out playing the big drives. That's the way Australia will bowl to him - they're going to go full and try to get him driving."

To be the first to hear all the latest Ashes news, sign up to our newsletter The Cricket Drop here.