Crouch is not going to start no matter what. Or so I hope.

The thing about Ashton is that he doesn't have international experience. That's not the kind of player you want as a starter in the World Cup. That's the type of player you want to bring off the bench for something a little different. If Owen is injured, Defoe will start (the only other options are Darren Bent and Marlon Harewood, who haven't played a full England game between them) and rightly so. Hopefully he'll have a little something extra at the World Cup, due to being benched a bit at Spurs, a la Milan Baros in Euro 2004.