Ben Stokes has followed through on England’s mantra of going hard from the start, but they’ll need to hold their nerve when plans go awry against an experienced Australia side
Ian Chappell18-Jun-2023Call it what you like – Bazball, if you must – but England have made it very clear under Ben Stokes: “We play aggressively against all teams, including Australia.”What England do is actually employ an old but clever tactic – they try to win from the first ball in an attempt to take the draw out of the equation. By attacking sensibly, the England batters score quickly in order to gauge the opposition’s reaction. They got an immediate response from Australia captain Pat Cummins, who surprisingly preferred Scott Boland’s steadiness over Mitchell Starc’s wicket-taking ability and then set some unusually deep fielders.Related
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Aggressiveness is a major change from an England side who mostly used conservative ways in the past. However, having witnessed a classic Joe Root century and then surprisingly declaring on the first evening of the series, Stokes could happily rate the first challenge a success.Stokes, like Cummins, is a good captain. He is absolutely correct to try and win from the first ball because it empowers his team and is the best way to unsettle the opposition. What he’s yet to discover is how seeking wickets in preference to looking at keeping the opposition’s run rate down will work against Australia over a five-Test series.In addition to a vastly experienced Australian attack and their ability to weather an assault, the batting line-up has also been well tested. There’s the solidarity and strong mentality of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, who Australia will rely on for heavy scoring in the series.Travis Head has been counterattacking for some time and he has experienced success with the ploy against Test attacks. Australia will also be hoping Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green have a good series, but if David Warner overcomes the Stuart Broad hoodoo and scores freely, then the England bowlers will feel extreme pressure.
Stokes is absolutely correct to try and win from the first ball. What he is yet to discover is how seeking wickets in preference to looking at keeping the opposition’s run rate down will work against Australia over a five-Test series
That highlights a problem for England; the advanced age of their experienced pace bowlers. Jimmy Anderson and Broad are both excellent bowlers but if either suffers an age-related injury, it places a huge burden on the rest of the attack. This is especially so because England are uncertain what Stokes provides as a bowler, and spinner Moeen Ali doesn’t have a good record against Australia’s attacking batters. Under assault, the England attack is less likely to hold their nerve than Australia’s line-up.Australia have a very experienced and good attack. Therefore, much will depend on England’s ability to maintain Stokes’ tactics when faced with an Australian assault and whether they still “think wickets” when things go awry.Field placings will play a big part if the batters of both sides continue to succeed with the plan to attack.The captain who finds the correct spot for his fielders, and they then hang on to the catches, will hit upon a good recipe for winning a tightly contested series. Australia have an advantage as their bowling attack is likely to create more chances and is backed by a superior catching unit. As a team Australia are also more likely to effect the occasional spectacular run out; they are the better overall fielding side.It’s a brave captain who continues to seek wickets (especially with the improved bats of these days), rather than depending purely on run-saving, but to do so increases his team’s chances of victory. The braver individual favours a desire for wickets and will reap the rewards over a five-Test series.Both teams have tried using a bouncer barrage, but neither has achieved much success with the move in the past. Both captains need to remember that an accurate and surprise bouncer’s greatest attribute is that the batter is uncertain when it will rear its ugly head.Stokes’ tactic of not giving Anderson the new ball is probably because when the lacquer wears off a Dukes ball, it starts to swing more. Another example of Stokes’ lateral thinking.The Ashes favours the Australian team except for one small detail; this series is played in the UK. Australia haven’t won a series in England since 2001, and trying to break that hoodoo adds further to the Ashes drama.
