They got carried away a bit: Ponting on England’s ‘Bazball’ approach

Australian batting great and former captain Ricky Ponting delivered his verdict on England’s ‘Bazball’ approach to cricket, saying that while it resulted in some entertaining action, the hosts got carried away and did not act smart while making some of their decisions.

Australia retained the Ashes with an unassailable 2-1 series lead on Sunday after the Manchester Test was drawn following a washed-out fifth day. It was a blow for England who were primed to draw level in the series, having fought back from 2-0 down. 

However, England came in for criticism earlier in the series, after captain Ben Stokes’ decision to declare despite being on top on the first day in the first Test at Edgbaston, leading to Australia finding a way back to win the Test.

Their aggressive approach to Australia’s short-ball tactic in the Lord’s Test, when they conceded a lead of 91 in the first innings, was also criticised. Ponting, speaking on The ICC Review the day after the fourth Test, said England should have played smart cricket in those crucial moments. 

“Some of those decisions — the Edgbaston declaration, Lord’s first innings batting — I think they got a little bit carried away with it then,” he said as quoted by ICC. 

“One thing that hasn’t probably been spoken enough about though is … they have spoken about the right time and the right place to play that brand of cricket and they want to have aggressive cricketers and attacking cricketers, but they want to have smart cricketers as well.”

“I think a couple of times they just probably have not been as smart as they could have been. Day two at Manchester was just unbelievable cricket. Zak Crawley, 189 off 182 balls, and Joe Root, almost a run-a-ball, what would he make, 80-odd. It was some of the most entertaining and demoralising Test match cricket that I have probably ever seen.”

“And that is why it is nice to be a part of [the series], but at the end of the day, they are 2-1 down, they cannot win the series, and as much as they have dominated, say they have dominated certain parts of the game, it still has not been good enough to get their nose in front of the series,” concluded the Aussie great. 

Ponting drew parallels between the iconic 2005 Ashes series in England won by England and the ongoing series. He said that England has a reason to be proud because their style of playing has made fans fall in love with the five-day game. 

“It is being spoken about like the 2005 series, and we know 2005 had a huge impact on the way Test cricket was watched and probably played all around the world after that series,” he said. 

“England can be very proud of what they are trying to achieve and what they are trying to do. You know, so many kids at the ground, so many kids enjoying Test cricket, families there enjoying it — people that are not necessarily huge Test match fans are sending messages through to everyone talking about how good it has been to watch this sort of style of play,” he added. 

Stokes, the England captain, said after the drawn fourth Test that, despite the loss his side would be spoken about in later years for their approach to the game. Ponting, however, thought differently, saying that results will be talked about more rather than individual performances. 

“They probably will be spoken about, but I mean, even if they do not win, this is the other thing — with one Test match to go, if Australia win and they beat England 3-1, I am sure more people are going to be speaking about that result rather than some of the individual performances from England,” he said. 

“At the end of the day — maybe it is just me, maybe I am too competitive — [but there is a balance] between being out-and-out entertainers and not worrying about the result, and at different times adjusting their game and thinking more about winning and losing.”

“And if they did that, with the talent they have got on the side, they can win a lot more games. I think that [Manchester Test] was only their first drawn game in 17 Test matches. So they have played some entertaining cricket for sure,” concluded Ponting. The final Test at The Oval begins on Thursday.