Cretans are relatively common in classical texts. Off the top of my head I can think of two instances in which they're described in some detail and praised, and if I were to think about it and really go through my material at length there's more that could be scared up. Xenophon says:

μεγάλα δὲ καὶ τόξα τὰ Περσικά ἐστιν: ὥστε χρήσιμα ἦν ὁπόσα ἁλίσκοιτο τῶν τοξευμάτων τοῖς Κρησί, καὶ διετέλουν χρώμενοι τοῖς τῶν πολεμίων τοξεύμασι, καὶ ἐμελέτων τοξεύειν ἄνω ἱέντες μακράν.

But the Persian bows are also large; consequently they were useful to the Cretans, as many of the arrows as fell into their hands, and they continued to supply themselves with the enemy's arrows, and practiced distance shooting, launching arrows up into the air

This is also where Xenophon says that the Rhodians outranged even the Persian bowmen, who themselves outranged the Cretans:

καὶ οὐκέτι ἐσίνοντο οἱ βάρβαροι τῇ τότε ἀκροβολίσει: μακρότερον γὰρ οἵ τε Ῥόδιοι τῶν Περσῶν ἐσφενδόνων καὶ† τῶν τοξοτῶν

And at that point the barbarians no longer did harm there [i.e. at long range--Xenophon has just spoken about how he had the Rhodians in the army, who were fighting as hoplites, fashion slings and join the Cretans and peltasts in the line, since the Persians were outranging them], for the Rhodians slung further than the Persians, further even than their bowmen

The Cretans show up a few more times in Xenophon, but that passage always stands out to me.

Caesar also mentions the Cretans that he brought with him to Gaul:

Eo de media nocte Caesar isdem ducibus usus qui nuntii ab Iccio venerant, Numidas et Cretas sagittarios et funditores Baleares subsidio oppidanis mittit

In the middle of the night Caesar, using the same men as guides who had come from Iccius, sent his Numidians and Cretan archers, and his Balearic slingers, with aid for the townspeople

These auxiliaries would've been employed at no small expense, since by Caesar's day the well-oiled system of transporting professional auxiliary cohorts to various corners of the empire was not yet in place, and auxiliaries were essentially local allies who provided troops as part of their tribute (or in lieu of tribute). Surely they were worth something.

There are lots of other scattered references to Cretans, they pop up pretty regularly. I seem to remember Plutarch mentioning Cretans fighting on both sides while Paulus was in Macedonia, and Appian definitely mentions them as one of Pompey's auxiliary forces at Pharsalus. I seem to recall Thucydides mentioning Cretan bowmen as accompanying the Athenian expedition to Sicily, in addition to the Scythians who served with the marines about the ships, and I'm pretty sure Xenophon lists several hundred Cretan bowmen in the employ of Agesilaus at Mantinea. I seem to remember Arrian mentioning Cretans as supporting the Agrianians at the Issus, which I think Plutarch mentions as well.