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Robert CraddockSenior sports journalist

Robert ‘Crash’ Craddock is regarded as one of Queensland’s best authorities on sport. ‘Crash’ is a senior sport journalist and columnist for The Courier-Mail and CODE Sports, and can be seen on Fox Cricket.

Robert Craddock

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England players Mark Wood, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook play it safe with the sun at Noosa on Wednesday. Picture Lachie Millard

Grief-stricken Poms were always going to be sitting ducks in Noosa

It isn’t uncommon for cricketers to go rogue while on tour, meaning England were sitting ducks all along when they made the critical mistake of heading to Noosa between Test matches.

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Australia team captain Steve Smith holds The Ashes urn as he celebrates with his teammates after winning The Ashes Fifth Test cricket match and the series 4-0 against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney, Monday, January 8, 2018. (AAP Image/David Moir) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, IMAGES TO BE USED FOR NEWS REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE WHATSOEVER, NO USE IN BOOKS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM AAP

The banned Ashes celebration Australia will never do again

Australia was cheeky, but stayed within the lines when celebrating in Adelaide. There’s one post-series act, however, which lingers. Robert Craddock reveals the line Australian cricket won’t cross again.

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ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 21: England coach Brendon McCullum after losing the Third Test Match in the 2025-26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval on December 21, 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

The walls are closing in on McCullum and the Bazball era

The essence of Bazball has been constant motion — but now it’s hit an immovable object, the legs are left spinning above a chasm below. Robert Craddock unpacks how far Brendon McCullum and England have to fall.

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Doug Walters turns 80 soon.

Doug Walters is 80 not out. They said he wouldn’t make 60.

At one point he was up to 50 smokes a day and had special liners put in his suits to carry four packets. He wasn’t expected to make 60. But Doug Walters has reached 80 years of age, and battling on.

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Pat Cummins is in Joe Root's head.

Root knew what was coming, but still couldn’t resist Cummins

Every fibre of Joe Root’s body told him not to swing, but, for the 13th time, he couldn’t resist a Pat Cummins delivery. It’s ensured an asterisk will remain at the bottom of his career CV.

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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 04: Ollie Pope of England walks off after being bowled by Mitchell Starc of Australia during day one of the Second 2025/26 Ashes Series Test Match between Australia and England at The Gabba on December 04, 2025 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Crash: England are ‘weak, submissive’ and have no answers

Red faces, sore limbs and broken dreams — and the worst part for England is the Ashes are only halfway done. Robert Craddock examines the 10 things we’ve learned so far.

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Ashleigh BARTY (AUS) poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup as she visits Uluru in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia on Friday, February 25, 2022. MANDATORY PHOTO CREDIT Scott Barbour/TENNIS AUSTRALIA

No lines, no worries: Ash Barty’s favourite tennis courts in the world

Ash Barty has named her seven favourite tennis courts in the world and revealed her most meaningful tennis experience wasn’t at Wimbledon but on a makeshift court without lines at Uluru.

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ANALYSISSport

England's captain Ben Stokes. Picture: Getty

Stokes is surviving the ‘city of curses’, but will he outlast this Ashes?

They call Adelaide the city of churches but to visiting Test captains it has been the city of curses. On a day which included a spat with Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes survived – but for how long?

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ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 17: Usman Khawaja of Australia bats during day one of the Third Test Match in the 2025-26 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval on December 17, 2025 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Crash: Why Khawaja should get an SCG farewell

He revived his Test career with an impressive Adelaide knock and mounted the pressure on selectors for the remainder of the Ashes. Now CRASH CRADDOCK writes, Usman Khawaja deserves an SCG farewell.

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Nathan Lyon, Shoaib Bashir and Shane Warne.

What Australia can learn from Bashir’s plight, and the shadow of Warne

If Australia needs to know what challenges it faces when Nathan Lyon retires look at how England have managed Shoaib Bashir. His plight, and the post-Shane Warne era, provide a hint as to how tough it could become.

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/journalists/robert-craddock