Ashes 2023: England look to extend Bazball dominance over arch-rivals and Test champions Australia

At least this year, no one has asked an Australian cricketer if he felt India-Australia rivalry has become bigger than the Ashes.

The buzz around the Ashes is bigger than ever even as Australia and India met in a 5-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier in February-March. Australia are heading into the Ashes as the world Test champions while England are playing like world champions in the longest format of the game, having won 11 of their last 13 Tests.

It seems that the Ashes is gearing up for battle between two teams that are on equal footing for the first time in a while, thanks to England’s much-improved showing in the longest format of the game.

England, under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, are being attributed to revolutionising Test cricket in the modern-era. They are playing a fearless brand of cricket that has made the fans fall in love with red-ball cricket all over again. When McCullum came on board as England’s Test coach last year, questions were asked but the former New Zealand captain has proved naysayers, wrong and in style.

England’s fear-inducing approach, dubbed as Bazball even though Baz doesn’t approve of it, has yielded them incredible results. From struggling to notch up wins under Joe Root and Chris Silverwood, England have turned into a sleek and sophisticated winning machine under Baz and Stokes, clinching 11 of the 13 Test played under the exciting combination.

STOKES PROMISES MORE BAZBALL
Bazball has not just been about England’s batters going out and throwing their bat at, nearly, everything and scoring at close to 6 runs per over in Test cricket. It’s more than just that. Role clarity, freedom for batters to go out and play their natural game, giving Joe Root the lisence to try his hand at shots that he wouldn’t have dreamed of playing, giving bowlers aggressive fields are all part of the approach. Announcing te playing XI 2 days in advance of the first Ashes Test also seems to be straight out of England’s Bazball book.

“Obviously, conditions can dictate how you can do that but we will always try to adapt to the conditions and still have that positive mode, which is to go out and have as much fun as we can and always look to put pressure on the opposition regardless of who it is. Not facing the man, but facing the ball,” Stokes said on the eve of the first Test.

Despite all the Bazball drumbeating, England quite well know that the stiffest test for their approach comes from Australia, who managed to draw the Ashes series and retain the Urn the last time they toured the Old Blighty.

England also don’t have Jack Leach who has done a terrific job as a holding bowler in the pace-rich England attack. In his place, England have brought back Moeen Ali even through there are concerns over his ability (or the lack of it) to contain opposition batters.

“Moeen Ali is going to come in here and I’m looking at what he can offer to this team on his best days and not worrying about anything else,” Stokes said, while backing his move to ask Moeen to come out of retirement.

AUSTRALIA CONFIDENT AFTER WTC WIN
England have both Stuart Broad and James Anderson, two of their finest pacers, while they have snubbed Mark Wood, the express paceman who many believe would have made a difference by going after the Australian batters in the series openers.

Despite all the success that England have had with Bazball, their opening batters Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley have been untested against high-quality pace and Australia have plenty of quality in their fast-bowling arsenal.

Australia, with their decimation of India in the World Test Championship final, sent a stern message that they are more than ready to face the new-look England side.

Barring question marks over David Warner’s up and down form, there seem to be no other major concerns in their batting unit. The addition of Scott Boland, who has taken to Test cricket at 34 like fish to water, is going to be a massive boost to Australia’s bowling unit even through they are fretting over the availability of Josh Hazlewood.

Pat Cummins, much like Stokes, has signaled a strong statement of intent when he said the tourists are looking to go one better than what they did in 2019, in a bold call, knowing fully well that England of 2023 are a much-imrpoved side.

“After the other day there was a bit of talk that we’d ticked off the World Test Championship, the T20 World Cup, a one-day World Cup, but we still don’t feel like we’ve ticked off an away Ashes series. It’s the aim for our group this time,” Cummins said.

Ashes 1st Test: Predicted XI and Team News

While England have announced their playing XI, Australia have one selection conundrum as Josh Hazlewood, as Pat Cummins said on Thursday, has recovered from his injury. However, Australia might not want to risk rushing Hazlewood back as they have a sensational back-up in Boland.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon

England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawly, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson