Former England captain Nasser Hussain expressed doubts regarding England’s aggressive cricket style, dubbed ‘Bazball,’ and its effectiveness against Australia following the hosts’ loss in the first Test of the highly anticipated Ashes series.
Australia triumphed on a thrilling final day to land a first blow in the Ashes with a two-wicket victory at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
The first game of the new ICC World Test Championship cycle ended in dramatic fashion, with Pat Cummins playing a captain’s knock of unbeaten 44 to steer his side to a famous victory in the Birmingham twilight.
Nasser Hussain pointed out that England has achieved success against Australia in the Ashes without relying on their aggressive cricket style, known as ‘Bazball.’ He praised Australia for their consistency in adhering to their own methods and performing well in crucial matches.
“Remember, we’ve beaten Australia in England since 2001 playing the old-fashioned way – we didn’t need ‘Bazball’ to beat Australia. The only thing I’ll say is they showed why they’re World Test Champions and the No 1 side in the world. They’ve got some serious players and some seriously tough players as well,” Hussain told Sky Sports.
“You can’t hide behind that (wanting to entertain), and I can almost read Ricky Ponting’s mind because he’s a winner. England lost [the final Test] in New Zealand as well, if you remember. I know they’ve had Ireland in between, but now they’ve lost here and there are two games of cricket they could have won, should have won,” said Hussain, referring to the 1-run defeat to New Zealand earlier in the year.
The win gives Australia a 1-0 lead in the series with four Tests to play. The second Test will start at Lord’s next Wednesday.
And the result is the first in the new cycle of the World Test Championship, with defending champions Australia getting points on the board at the first time of asking.
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