The ‘Bazball’ is under fire ever since England lost the first Ashes Test earlier this week. Ben Stokes and his men, former England captain Geoffrey Boycott has warned, seem to be carried away by their new aggressive style and run the risk of “turning the Ashes into an exhibition”.
England, playing with their ‘Bazball’ approach — an aggressive brand of cricket under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Stokes — suffered a two-wicket loss in the Ashes opener in Edgbaston.
In his The Telegraph column, Boycott wrote, “England are in danger of reducing the Ashes to an exhibition.”
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“England have got carried away with Bazball and seem to think entertaining is more important than winning. But England supporters want one thing more than anything else — to win the Ashes.”
Winning, not entertaining, was more important in the game, the legendary cricketer observed.
“Scoring fast runs, whacking lots of fours and sixes is lovely. It is great. But only if England do not lose sight of the big prize which is to beat Australia. If at the end of the series Australia go home with the Ashes we will feel sick, regardless of how much we have been entertained.”
Boycott claimed the 140-year-old Ashes series between the two rivals would lose its importance if England persist with this new style that presents more entertainment for viewers but also jeopardises the chances of winning,
“If England are not playing to win then these Ashes Tests are not that important. They are only exhibition matches. They have got it back to front. It is not about entertaining and then winning. It is about winning first.
“By all means entertain but cricket is like chess. There are moments when you need to defend. Sometimes you need to be patient and accept it.
“Do not just attack, attack, attack. England need a bit of common sense and pragmatism. That is all that is required. They do not have to change being positive because they are a better side than Australia and will win if they just show that common sense,” he added.
The former opener felt England were guilty of not capitalising on their chances despite dominating the match.
“England outplayed Australia in nearly every session at Edgbaston but lost. When they are on top, be ruthless and not sloppy. We kept getting ahead of Australia and then letting them back in by being careless.
“They are in danger of letting hubris be their downfall … It would be sad if playing exciting cricket for a year is going to their heads. They gave Australia a get-out-of-jail-free card. I find that silly.”
Opting to bat, England declared their first innings at 393/8 despite Joe Root batting unbeaten at 118. Many veterans had said that Ben Stokes left some important runs in the tank because of his bold decision, something that has come to characterise the ‘Bazball’ approach.
“The rule is to get as many runs as you can when the pitch is good before it deteriorates. England might have scored another 40-50 runs with Root on a hundred and Ollie Robinson, who can bat, but declared to get a wicket.”
Boycott also questioned the home batters’ all-out approach in the second innings.
“When they batted in the second innings they went crazy. England were scoring at five and six an over but for some reason, batsmen were trying to score at more than that and got themselves out.
“There were five: Ben Duckett, Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali. It was unnecessary.”
But not everything is bleak in Boycott’s picture. He believes that this English side is better than its Australian counterparts and can go on to win the Ashes.
“Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have rightly received a lot of praise for the way they have changed the attitude around the England team but playing just one way is not using your brain. If we are more interested in praise than winning then we have it wrong.
“I and many ex-players think this England team have the beating of these Aussies. But do not waste that talent and commitment by letting it go to your head.”
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