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Ben Stokes has been under the scanner for his captaincy after England’s defeat.© AFP
England captain Ben Stokes has been under the scanner for his captaincy after Australia won the first Ashes Test by 2 wickets at Edgbaston earlier this week. The narrow loss left England 0-1 down in the five-match Ashes contest as they bid for a first Ashes win over arch rivals Australia since 2015. Stokes’ decision to declare on the first day before England had scored 400 was heavily criticised by several current and former players even before the conclusion of the match.
Since Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum joined forces at the helm, England’s aggressive style of play dubbed ‘Bazball’ has worked wonders. Notably, England have won 11 of the 15 Tests since then.
McCullum had insisted he had “no regrets” about his side’s tactics after the loss at Edgbaston.
However, former England captain Nasser Hussain pointed that his team didn’t needed “Bazball” when they defeated Australia back in 2001.
“Remember, we’ve beaten Australia in England since 2001 playing the old-fashioned way. We didn’t need ‘Bazball’ to beat Australia. They’ve got some serious players and some seriously tough players as well. You can’t hide behind that (wanting to entertain),” Hussain said on Sky Sports after the match.
Hussain also recalled England’s defeat to New Zealand earlier this year in Wellington, adding that they’ve now lost two games which they should’ve won
“England lost 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,” he added.
The second Ashes Test will be played at Lords from June 28.
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