After Australia wrapped up the series against England in just 11 days of Ashes action, there\u2019s no doubt which side are best at cricket.<\/p>\n
But what if the two teams decided to go head-to-head on the golf course?<\/p>\n
Players from both sides frequently like to hit the fairways and, between Tests, hitting a little white ball instead of a slightly bigger red\/pink one been a popular activity.<\/p>\n
Here, we look at the leading golfers taking part in the current Ashes series:<\/p>\n
England<\/p>\n
Zak Crawley (handicap: 1)<\/p>\n
Crawley has been one of England\u2019s better performers in the Ashes, amassing 214 runs (with two half-centuries) at an average of 35.66. He\u2019s the fourth highest scorer in the series but, in terms of golf, he\u2019s right at the top of the charts. The 6ft 5\u201d opener uses those long levers to great use and even admits he preferred golf to cricket when growing up.<\/p>\n
Harry Brook (handicap: 1)<\/p>\n
Brook joked in an interview with GQ magazine in 2024 that being a golfer \u201cdefinitely has to be on your CV to get into the Test team.\u201d He also revealed: \u201cOfficially I\u2019m off one, but I play off scratch,\u201d so the Yorkshireman, who took up the game late, is one of the leading golfers in the Ashes series. A member at Ilkley in Yorkshire, Brooks may seek solace on the course if he doesn\u2019t improve upon his disappointing series so far (averaging 28.83 with the bat).<\/p>\n
Ben Stokes (handicap: 3.6)<\/p>\n
England\u2019s skipper has averaged 27.50 with the bat and taken nine wickets at an average of just over 25 in the first three Tests. As you\u2019d expect from a world-class all-rounder, he\u2019s an excellent golfer too. Stokes has played the prestigious pro-am in the BMW Championship at Wentworth, his handicap listed at 3.6 last time. As a player known for smashing sixes, it\u2019s no surprise that he regularly pumps his drives well over 300 yards.<\/p>\n
Ollie Pope (handicap: 4.5)<\/p>\n
Pope has had a tough time Down Under, averaging just over 20 and facing plenty of criticism for his lack of impact at No.3. But put a golf club in his hand rather than a cricket bat and he\u2019d likely outscore everyone on the Aussie side. The Surrey batsman has no end of high-quality local courses to hone his skills and he\u2019s also played the BMW PGA Championship pro-am at Wentworth.<\/p>\n
Joe Root (handicap: 6)<\/p>\n
The cricket-obsessed Root didn\u2019t pick up a golf club until his late teens but is now a huge fan and a regular on the fairways. England\u2019s leading runscorer in the series so far (219 at an average of 43.8 thanks mainly to his unbeaten century in Perth) has played in the Alfred Dunhill Links pro-am in Scotland and other leading events.<\/p>\n
Australia<\/p>\n
Pat Cummins (handicap: 5.6)<\/p>\n
The skipper has only played one of the three Tests so far due to a back stress fracture although he still managed six wickets on his return to the side. He\u2019ll hope it won\u2019t affect his golf as Cummins has been a rapid improver. A late starter, his handicap was initially reported to be around 20 but now it\u2019s been slashed to just 5.6.<\/p>\n
Mitchell Starc (handicap: 7)<\/p>\n
The left-handed paceman has been the star of the show for Australia, taking 22 wickets (eight more dismissals than anyone else) at a fraction over 17 and, for good measure, hitting a couple of half-centuries too. He\u2019s one of the Aussies\u2019 best golfers too, playing off 7.<\/p>\n
However, his focus seems to have been purely on the Ashes (England, take note!) as, in a pro-am between the second and third Tests, he mustered only 25 stableford points at Kooyonga, finishing 98th out of 108. Starc is married to Alyssa Healy (son of Aussie wicketkeeper Ian), who is also an excellent golfer.<\/p>\n
She said of her husband: \u201cHe\u2019s actually a very good golfer but just lets himself down a little bit around the greens. I reckon once he gets a bit more time at home and rhythm into his golf I feel like he\u2019ll come down pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Boland (handicap: 7.1)<\/p>\n
The fast-medium bowler, who bears a close resemblance to former golfer turned commentator Robert Lee, is the third highest-wicket taker so far with 11. He\u2019s also one of the Aussies\u2019 better golfers, with a reported handicap of 7.1. Six years ago he posted a picture of himself at Peninsula Kingswood \u2013 a Melbourne sandbelt course \u2013 celebrating a hole-in-one.<\/p>\n
Steve Smith (handicap: 13)<\/p>\n
So often the scourge of England in Ashes series, Smith likes a round of golf too. However, playing off 13, the likes of Stokes, Root and Brooks would likely have his number on the golf course. Smith also took part in the recent pro-am at Kooyonga and finished 96th out of 108. Again, perhaps he has his priorities right as, in the two Tests he\u2019s played so far (he was ill for the third), Smith has averaged over 50.<\/p>\n
Marnus Labuschagne (handicap: 14)<\/p>\n
A former No.1 in the Test batting rankings, Labuschagne hasn\u2019t reached those heights with a golf club in hand. He\u2019s shown himself playing some leading courses (Open venue Royal St. George\u2019s) on social media and also admitted he \u201calways plays junk\u201d when having Steve Smith as a partner. He\u2019s hit two half-centuries in the current Ashes series.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/p>\n
Based on the above handicaps, if the two teams locked horns on the golf course, England would likely gain revenge for their Ashes defeat.<\/p>\n
The England team boast a number of excellent golfers while the best Aussies \u2013 all bowlers incidentally \u2013 are just that little bit behind.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s current crop of batsmen haven\u2019t really excelled on the golf course but, rewind a little, and former captain Ricky Ponting was an excellent golfer.<\/p>\n
Ponting revealed in several interviews that he\u2019s had seven hole-in-ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Australia wrapped up the series against England in just 11 days of Ashes action, there\u2019s no doubt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,44,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-372885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}