Explained – How Bazball-led England messed up golden chance to win home Ashes against ageing Aussie side

Bazball was all over everyone before the Ashes 2023 had even begun, and most Australian fans were on their toes, knowing how well England has done under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. With England winning almost everything in under one year just by playing this ultra-attacking style of cricket, they were outright favourites to win back the urn, but as destiny had it, the flaws in this approach got exposed, and England was left wanting in the end.

England batters were scoring runs at over run-a-ball strike-rate in subcontinent conditions, while their part-timers were among the leading wicket-takers, let alone the premium ones, who were already tearing into best of line-ups. In an ideal world, it seemed like it was England’s best chance to beat the ageing Aussie side and win the Ashes for the first time since 2015.

Amidst all the buzz, England began in the most-English way in the first Test in Edgbaston with Zak Crawley, unlike Rory Burns – who got out on a first-ball duck in the previous Ashes, smashed captain Pat Cummins for a glorious four this time. That shot had the crowd up on its feet, and the smile on Cummins’ face told the whole story.

After a great first day of Ashes 2023, Ben Stokes decided to declare on 393 for eight – at a time when Root had just completed his hundred and was looking strong to add more to his tally. That decision, however, came as a shocker for most non-English fans, who argued England made a mistake by not trying to carry the momentum forward.

Captain Stokes and most of the cricket pundits from the country deferred from that opinion, adding that call was ‘brave’ and gave England a good chance to pick a couple of wickets before stumps on day one. While that didn’t happen, what unfolded later cost England – even if they disagree now.

With all falling to Pat’s shoulders in final session on day five, he held his nerves and helped Australia break the ice and win the first Test by two wickets. That win not only helped the Aussies take an unlikely lead but also saw them crack open a loophole in England’s newest formula to win.

The loss hurt England like anything, as fans and experts blamed the strange declaration for the defeat.

Lord’s beating added salt to wounds

While England’s under-par performance with the bat got overshadowed by a lot of things in the first Test, it came into the limelight in the second match, which saw the hosts suffer a similar fate and go down 0-2 in the five-match series. Well, those who followed the first two games will question team selection also, with veteran James Anderson failing to put any impact and Stokes sticking with unfit Robinson instead of bowling pair of Chris Woakes and Mark Wood waiting in the wings.

The Jonny Bairstow-Alex Carey controversy, and what followed later in the Lord’s Long Room, also took away the attention from these two topics as England was left with nothing but to play for a win in remaining matches.

After two back-to-back losses, head coach Brendon McCullum didn’t shy from continuing to play the same brand of cricket in the next game, as they managed to win their first Test against mighty Aussies this summer at Leeds.

Any guesses on how did this happen? Woakes and Wood partnered with both bat and ball and helped England taste success, much to everyone’s amusement. At that moment, England’s leadership group realised their mistake of not picking the right XI and playing poorly as reasons for the result at hands.

Manchester Test brought hope, but the rains helped Oz

Come the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester, England was geared to take the Aussies by its neck, and their approach was apt for the occasion. After dismissing the batting-heavy Australian team on a mere 317, England piled up almost double the score, with Crawley hitting 189 and five other batters scoring respective fifties, including Bairstow, who remained unbeaten on 99.

England’s mantra of playing Bazball was to entertain people and bring them back to watch Tests – something they succeeded at, but at the same time, went too far for it, only for them to stay behind in the Test. While they didn’t declare and instead went after scoring more and more runs, that ploy helped the Aussies instead.

Since rain was predicted for the final two days and with England giving Australia less time to bat on day three, the Oz made the most of the chance and played for the draw.

Anderson, who returned to the Test side for perhaps his final home game in whites, again failed to deliver as England couldn’t dismiss Australia, and with rain washing out the remining two days, the match got drawn, and Australia retained the Ashes.

The fifth Test will start at the Kia Oval in London on July 27.