England’s Bazball approach has made everyone even more attracted to Test cricket. Ever since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes joined hands last year, they have aimed at more results and fewer draws: 11 wins, 2 losses, and 0 draws in their tenure so far.
They took it to another level when Ben Stokes declared England’s first innings after 78 overs on Day 1 of the first Ashes 2023 Test against Australia, at Edgbaston, with England’s score 393/8 and Joe Root still in the middle, middling the ball as beautifully as ever at 118*.
However, Ben Stokes wanted to give his seamers a crack at the Aussie openers in the dying minutes of the day. And although Broad and Robinson couldn’t take a wicket in the 4 overs at the end of the day, Ben Stokes’ decision to declare at 393 on a flat batting pitch surprised everyone.
This is Bazball. And, along with the fans, this method has also hooked England’s men’s football head coach Gareth Southgate, who was in awe of Stokes’ declaration.
Gareth Southgate, who is currently coaching England in the Euro Qualifiers, hailed Ben Stokes’ go-win-or-go-home mindset.
“I’m a big cricket fan and it’s something that is hugely exciting to watch at the moment. Their (England) mindset has been a big thing, but they’ve (Australia) also got a lot of world-class players. We’ve got quite a few players I think would get in a World XI. So, the standard is also very good, but there’s definitely been this shift in how they’re playing.
“I would imagine this is the first team in my lifetime to declare at 393/8 on Day 1. That will be an interesting decision because in the end people will judge on the outcome as they do, the decisions you make as a coach. But that’s a clue as to the mindset they’re going into the series with,” Southgate noted during a press conference as his side routed Malta 4-0 in a UEFA Euro Qualifiers encounter.
On Day 2, both the teams threw punches, but, it can said fairly, that it is Australia who would be slightly happier team as they are trailing now by 82 runs and have 5 wickets in hand with both their batters at the crease, Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey, well set at 126* and 52*.
