Before this winter’s Ashes, England’s Bazballers have thrilled us with their highly entertaining brand of Test Cricket.
But, capitulating to an eight-wicket loss from being 65-1, is certainly not the start you want in such an important series.
After bundling out Australia for 132, in reply to their average first innings score of 172, England failed to take advantage of what could have been a handy 40-run lead.
Is it time for a rethink for Ben Stokes and England?
Ashes 2025-26: Drive At Your Own Peril
Looking at the top order’s wickets in the second innings, 90% of them were caught in the slips and gully, playing the cover drive.
That shot is perilous on bouncy surfaces in Australia, especially in places like Perth, which is probably the quickest.
The most disappointing dismissal was Joe Root, as he, along with Stokes, is the most experienced of the bunch.
As the most senior batsman, surely he should have assessed the situation and said, ” Ok, we’ve just lost Duckett, Pope and Brook in one over, let me rein it in, to make sure we don’t suffer damage anymore.’
The art of batting in Australia is to play on the back foot and avoid the cover drive, unless it’s really full.
Embed from Getty ImagesBy playing that type of shot on those surfaces, you are taking a huge risk, especially if you are not close to the pitch of the ball.
Once you have gotten used to the surface, and the ball is around 30 to 40 overs old, you can then expand your range of shots.
None of England’s batters did that.
This is concerning, as the next Test is at the Gabba in Brisbane, which traditionally offers pace and bounce.
Another baffling thing from an England point of view was the lack of intent to rotate the strike.
All it was was just boundary, dot ball, and wicket, boundary, dot ball, wicket.
Embed from Getty ImagesEven though Duckett and Pope seemed to guide England to safe waters, they too perished, making the same mistakes as the rest of the batting lineup.
While England’s ‘Bazball’ fearless style of Test cricket is good to watch, they still need to be ruthless at controlling matches.
According to BBC Sport, in the last 14 Tests of the Bazball era, England have won six, lost seven, and drawn just one game.
It brought them success in the last Ashes series in England by drawing 2-2.
When you have a record like that, even though it’s your style of play, teams will eventually find you out.
It then makes it easier for them to plan accordingly to your area of weakness, which for England is temperament.
England have not allowed their batters to join up with the Lions squad for their two-day pink ball game against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.
This is also concerning.
Why not use this opportunity to find some form and get used to the conditions?
There’s a saying that if you ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, and that is precisely what’s happening with the batters at the moment.
The day/night Ashes Test at the Gabba is eleven days away!
England must knuckle down with their preparations and find a better way of making Bazball succeed in Australia.
Can they do that and get themselves back in this Ashes Series?
👉 Related: Top 10 Richest Cricketers
