Australia snatched a two-wicket win over England in an Ashes epic at Edgbaston to take a 1-0 series lead; Nasser Hussain, Ricky Ponting and Kevin Pietersen debate the different approaches the teams utilised and what it means for the remaining four Tests in the series
Wednesday 21 June 2023 15:45, UK
Pat Cummins had barely hit the winning runs in the first Test of this year’s Ashes series before the debate over the clash of styles between England and Australia fired up.
At Edgbaston, the more traditional approach to five-day, red-ball cricket from the tourists narrowly triumphed over the aggressive and entertaining 'Bazball' approach employed by the hosts.
Ben Stokes' bold decision to declare at the end of the first day, his inventiveness in setting fields on a pitch offering little for the bowlers and England's aggressive approach with the bat underlined their intent to carry on with the approach which has served them well in the past year.
But it was his opposite number Cummins who was celebrating at the end of day five, with all questions about his defensive approach in the field and decisions to leave Mitchell Starc out of the team forgotten about as Australia took a 1-0 series lead with a two-wicket win.
Afterwards, Sky Sports' pundits gave their views on the different approach from England and Australia, and what it means for the rest of the series.
"I think England have got the most questions to answer. Their style of play: Is it going to hold up in an Ashes series?
"By no means am I saying that England's method is wrong, I have loved watching them play, but it just goes to show there is more than one way to skin a cat.
"This is a long and hard game. Australia's method has stood up and it has worked.
"I want this series to be played the same way and I know Ben and Brendon [McCullum, England head coach] will play the same way, which adds even more to next week."
"It's amazing; for four-and-a-half days, everyone has been talking about the Australian style of play.
"It was a saying in the dressing room, 'you only win, if you win.' Everything else is nonsense.
"Once you win the game, your style of play, the defensive fields, the side you selected, it worked. When you lose, 'Bazball', the declaration, everything else gets questioned.
"It was a fabulous game of cricket. I applaud the players. This place was sold out for five days - and everyone that came here will want to come back to Test match cricket. And in this era when Test cricket is vulnerable, you have to keep one eye on that.
"You can't hide behind that. Obviously they will have wanted to win and they will be hugely disappointed.
"They lost [the final Test] in New Zealand, remember. I know they've beaten Ireland in between, but there's two games of cricket they could have won, should have won.
"And remember we've beaten Australia in England since 2001 [drawn in 2019], playing the old-fashioned way. We didn't need Bazball to beat Australia.
"The only think I'll say is, they showed why they're World Test Champions, they showed why they're the number one side in the world. They've got some serious players and some seriously tough players.
"And they'll be hugely satisfied. Because however nice they've been about it [Bazball] in press conferences and interviews, they will have been in that dressing room - if I know the Australians - saying, 'you can't do that against us.'"
"I don't think we can pick this team apart too much. The declaration is of course something which will be spoken about. However, the way both teams played, and for Test cricket as a whole with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum identifying it needs some entertainment, we got it here this afternoon and we got it over the last five days.
"David Warner said some of the guys in the England dressing room were 'throwing their wickets away' and he said 'we aren't going to play that way'.
"That is also saying something from a senior player in the Australia side that they don't think Test cricket can be played like this or should be played like this.
"English fans want a win. Of course, they want to be entertained and the atmosphere was great. The game was tight and was a nail-biter, but the England fans want them to win. You can talk as much as you like, but in an Ashes series it's about results."
The men's Ashes resumes at Lord's on Wednesday June 28 with the second of five Tests. Build-up begins on Sky Sports Cricket at 10am ahead of the first ball at 11am.
