Michael Clarke lashes out at England’s sneaky plan to ensure Australia lose the Ashes series

Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has slammed England over reports that they plan to shorten the boundaries for all five Test matches of the upcoming Ashes series in a bid to cash in on their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. 

Named after new coach Brendon McCullum, Bazball has been hugely popular among England fans.

The up-tempo, free-flowing style of cricket has seen England score at a much higher run rate than before, while also playing for outright victories when they would have settled for draws in the past. 

The England team are reportedly looking at new ways to fully utilize the new approach during the home Ashes series against Australia, which begins on June 16 at Edgbaston. 

According to The Times, England have enquired about bringing in the boundaries at the five Ashes venues in a bid to make the playing field smaller and produce more boundaries and sixes. 

Former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke has played in several Ashes Tests and doesn’t believe England’s scheming will benefit the home side

The English team has excelled since turning to ‘Bazball’ and will be using the up-tempo approach against the Aussies in the Ashes next month

However, the move has the potential to backfire on England, according to Clarke.

Clarke said he does not see what benefit it would have, as Australian grounds are twice the size of English grounds anyway. 

‘What a load of junk,’ Clarke said on Sky Sports radio on Monday.

‘That’s why there are fewer sixes from Australian players. Bat at the MCG, and you’ve got 90-metre boundaries; bat in England, and you’ve got 60-metre boundaries. 

‘Who cares? Both teams have got to bat.’

Since May of last year, England have hit the most sixes in Test cricket with 86, while Australia have only hit 32. India (58), New Zealand (56), Sri Lanka (56), Pakistan (38), and the West Indies (37) have all hit more than the Aussies.

Australia will be all too familiar with the size of the boundaries at Headingley in Leeds, where Ben Stokes produced a famous knock to win the third Ashes Test in 2019. 

One of the boundaries at Headingley is only about 66 metres, but they might be shorter by the time the third Test rolls around this time.

Australia has enjoyed plenty of success on home soil against England but traditionally struggles when travelling to the Old Dart

Stuart Broad angered Aussies when he said the 4-0 pasting the Poms copped last series didn’t really count because of Covid

England already raised the hackles of Aussie cricket supporters in the last week when Ashes tormenter Stuart Broad said the 4-0 thrashing that England copped in the last series in Australia didn’t count. 

‘Nothing was harsher than the last Ashes series,’ Broad said. 

‘But in my mind, I don’t class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game. 

‘Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise. I’ve written it off as a void series.’