England and Australia have vowed to remain loyal to their contrasting tactical approaches, setting up the prospect of another thrilling Ashes clash in the second Test at Lord’s starting Wednesday.
Australia, bidding for a first Ashes series win in England in 22 years, went 1-0 up in a five-match campaign with a dramatic two-wicket win in the first Test at Edgbaston last week.
England were in sight of victory when they had their arch-rivals eight down and needing 54 more runs to win, only to be undone by an unbroken partnership between Australia captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
Poor fielding, with several chances missed, did not help England’s cause either. Attention, however, soon turned to their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach, even though this was only their third defeat in 14 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year.
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Several former England internationals, including Geoffrey Boycott, suggested Stokes’s side had been too gung-ho in Birmingham, notably in declaring on the first day at 393-8. Ollie Pope, Stokes’s vice-captain, said there was more to the team’s tactics than met the eye.
“I know sometimes it can look like it’s just moments of madness, but all the decisions that are made are well thought out with a vision of the end goal,” Pope insisted at Lord’s on Tuesday.
The bigger issue for England arguably lies in team selection. Off-spinner Mooen Ali, tempted out of red-ball retirement at Edgbaston, unsurprisingly suffered a finger injury on a bowling hand not used to lengthy spells. England have called up teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed as cover.
They could also rely on Root’s part-time off-spin as a way of getting express quick Mark Wood back into the side.
Australia, however, are the World Test champions and there is no guarantee a more orthodox approach would have had led to greater success—after all it was while playing in such a traditional style that England won just one out of 17 Tests before Stokes succeeded Joe Root as red-ball skipper.
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