England not in control of what they are doing: Former captain Michael Atherton
Jul 01, 2023
London [UK], July 1 : Former England captain Michael Atherton thinks that England's 'bazball' brand of cricket is not about all-out aggression but a calculated one and added that it has felt that England are not in control of what they are doing
"If you go back to last summer, England's approach is one of calculated aggression. Here, it seems to be all-out aggression, no matter what," Atherton told Sky Sports.
England are behind in the series 0-1 after losing the first Ashes test at Edgbaston. In the second test, English players followed the same approach in the game which did not work in the previous match.
Australia in the first innings posted 416 and in response to that England were able to score 325 in their first innings at Lord's. At the end of day three, Australia were batting at 130/2, with Khawaja (58*) and Steve Smith (6*) unbeaten.
"They were just the wrong side of reckless in that innings, and this morning in particular with the dismissal of Harry Brook," Atherton said.
Atherton also mentioned that the godfather of 'Bazball' cricket in England was Eoin Morgan and he would also think that England is a little reckless.
"Even Eoin [Morgan] who I reckon is kind of the spiritual godfather of 'Bazball' might have thought that that was slightly reckless," the former English player added.
"I don't know whether it's because of the Ashes, whether it's the pace of the bowling. Pace makes you do funny things, it can take you out of your comfort zone. All of the chat around England's approach, you can sometimes forget what got you to this position," he added.
Atherton further said that England are not in control of what they are doing in the match.
"Think about Jonny Bairstow's innings at Trent Bridge against New Zealand, that was grasping a moment where he thought it was right to attack. It was calculated risk-taking. Here, it has felt England are not in control of what they are doing," he said.
Brief Scores: England: 325 (Ben Duckett 98, Harry Brook 50, Mitchell Starc 3/88), Australia: 416 and 130/2 (Usman Khawaja 58*, Marnus Labuschagne 30, Josh Tongue 1/21).
