Former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels the home batters should not look to tee off every single ball in the Ashes against Australia. England has adopted Bazball under the tutelage of head coach Brendon McCullum and the same has worked wonders.
The English team has won 11 out of the last 13 matches and lost two under McCullum. The likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, and Ollie Pope have played aggressively for England and the team has reaped rewards for the same.
However, Hussain doesn’t want England to throw caution to the wind and play with guile.
Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail: “Failure will fuel the arguments of those who said this style of play would only work against certain sides and England have been over-hyped, but one thing’s for sure — under the current leadership team, they won’t take a backwards step.”
He continued: “At the same time, they like to play the Bazball term down, as despite scoring at five an over, the fastest run rate in the history of the game, it is not all about teeing off every single delivery.”
Meanwhile, England named their playing XI two days before the first Test match. The home team picked Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, and James Anderson as the pace trio but Hussain added he would have gone in with Mark Wood, who could trouble the Australian batters with his extra pace.
“Personally, I would have gone for Wood to add a point of difference on a flat pitch but I can see it was a 50-50 call and understand why they’ve gone the way they have.”
He added: “Let’s be honest if you were going to go for three 83mph right-arm bowlers, these would be the three. In Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson, you are talking about three highly skilful seamers — two masters and an extremely worthy apprentice.”
Hussain reckons Bazball will add excitement to the Ashes and things will not be dull as these potent teams take on each other.
‘Yes, when he reverse scoops Pat Cummins for six, we will all say: ‘Wow, this is Bazball.’ Equally, though, when he gets caught on the rope, everyone will ask: ‘Does he need to do that?’”
He continued: “The greyness to all of this is why this Ashes series is so intriguing. It’s an unknown quantity. Things are not going to be dull.”
The first Ashes Test will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from June 16 onwards.
