Former England captain Kevin Pietersen slammed the ‘Bazball’ theory after the Australian cricket team defeated England in the 1st Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023 series. Kevin Pietersen is disappointed with the performances of the England fast bowlers. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, and Ben Stokes bowled well but the Australian batters outplayed them in many patches.
Australian Batters Outplayed England Bowlers
The Pat Cummins-led Australian side chased down a target of 281 runs with just 27 balls remaining to go 1-0up in the five-match Ashes 2023 series.
The England bowlers started off well on Day 5 by dismissing both the nightwatchmen Scott Boland and frontline batsman Travis Head. However, Left-handed opener Usman Khawaja played a fighting knock and kept the England bowlers on their toes.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins also played an instrumental role in the famous win as he stepped up with the bat and played a crucial knock. He played an unbeaten knock of 44 runs and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 55 runs for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon (16*) to take his side home in the chase of 281.
With no gun spinner, no reverse swing, it won’t be wrong to say that England’s bowling attack was hamstrung. While Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson put in some incredible shifts, James Anderson, the leader of the England bowling attack had an off-game. He returned with the figures of 1 for 109 and was overlooked when England took the second new ball in the final stages of the game.
Kevin Pietersen Slammed Bazball Mentality
Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen isn’t happy with the performance of the England bowlers and he has slammed them for not being able to put fear in the minds of the rival players. KP compared the bowlers to Mitchell Johnson and Shoaib Akhtar, who he believes had more fire.
Further, KP praised Mark Wood as he felt that he was the only bowler who could have created that impact but he wasn’t a part of the playing XI. He said:
“Travis Head should have been targeted with short balls, but he was allowed to score. I don’t want to disrespect any bowler, but they lack pace. The England team doesn’t have the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Shoaib Akhtar,”
He added: “Broad and Robinson were bowling at 80-82. It’s a problem for the England team. The pacers can disturb the batters with short-pitch stuff bowled at a pace,”
