English Media’s Critical Take On ‘Bazball’ As Australia Clinch 1st Ashes Test | Cricket News

England’s defeat in the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston drew a plethora of reactions on social media. While some questioned the efficacy of ‘Bazball’, others criticised skipper Ben Stokes‘ decision to declare early on Day 1 of the match. After Australia secured a 2-wicket win in the match, a section of English media gave a critical review to the team’s performance in the series opener, with their much talked about style of play ‘Bazball’ also being trashed by certain newspapers.

The gripping contest produced some enthralling moments throughout the 5 days of play. On the final day, it looked like England were in the driving seat after eight Australian batters were back in the hut while more than 55 runs were still needed in the run-chase.

The unbeaten stand between Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins proved to be the final nail in the coffin for England as Australia fought extreme odds to go 1-0 up in the series.

Here’s how UK press reacted to the Edgbaston Test result:

Despite the team’s defeat, England skipper Ben Stokes said that the team will continue to play the way they did.

“Very proud of the team to take it till the end, go through all those emotions. That’s another great game we have been part of, I’ll be very surprised if we haven’t kept people at the edge of their seats throughout this Test. Good reason for more people in England and Australia to follow the Ashes. A loss is a loss, we said we are going to keep playing this way. This is the way we will continue playing, going hard at Australia, taking certain decisions that feel right.

(On declaration regrets) Not at all, I saw it as a chance to pounce on Australia. Never easy for someone to go out and bat 20 minutes. Who knows? Maybe Root and Jimmy could have got out and we would have been in the same place,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

The result might not have been in England’s favour but the sort of game they produced over 5 days certainly gave fans a new outlook towards Test cricket.