The English appear to have seen the error of their ways, but it could be too little too late as they try to turn around their Ashes Titanic after it seemingly has already taken on too much water needing to win all three remaining Tests and claim the series.
After brazenly defying any criticisms of their Bazball bat aggressively at all costs tactics their stance has softened since their Gabba defeat with both the captain and vice-captain admitting the team needs to play better situational cricket instead of trying to blast an Australian attack all too happy to let them keep throwing away their wickets.
During the early stages of the Bazball era, when Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes combined as the new leadership of the England Test team in June 2022, the messaging was all about fearlessness and entertainment with the goal of changing the face of Test cricket.
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The high-risk, high reward strategy initially worked with England winning nine out of 10 Test matches within the first six months.
Prior to this Ashes series, England winning percentage rose dramatically from 53 to 76.2 against teams in the World Test Championships, other than Australia and India.
Against the two strongest nations they have managed to improve their percentage by 15 per cent from 22.2 to 37.5.
After the shock loss in Perth, Stokes said post-match that “the guys who seemed to have success out there were really brave to take the game on … Anyone who tried to stay around and try to occupy the crease with a lot of time didn’t seem to have a lot of success.”
When Cricket Australia presenter Isa Guha doubled down on the fact England lost 9-100 in the second session in the first Test, Stokes again dug his heels in claiming that the players who were able to be brave and knock the bowlers off their line and length had been successful.
The question is can the younger players also play traditional Test cricket when it warrants after three years of being indoctrinated to smash every ball that comes their way.
Now 2-0 down and facing the daunting task of trying to beat Australia in a pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval tomorrow I believe that Stokes has finally realised that their messaging and approach needs to change.
The English squad is much younger than Australia’s Dad’s Army, there are only two players, Stokes and Joe Root, who are over 30.
The rest of the squad are in their mid 20s. What I found when I was captain was younger players could interpret your messaging in different ways from what you mean.
So now saying maybe they should bat more cautiously could cause confusion among the ranks, but the English appear to have no other choice to avoid a 5-0 whitewash.
The senior players know how to ride with the tempo of the game, sometimes digging in and absorbing pressure instead of going out there all guns blazing.
The question is can the younger players also play traditional Test cricket when it warrants after three years of being indoctrinated to smash every ball that comes their way.
The messaging prior to the Adelaide Test has clearly shifted.
“I could have gone out there and nicked off first ball, but the mentality and mindset is what fight is to me,” Stokes said.
“You’re giving yourself the best chance if you’ve got a bit of dog in you.”
We call that showing a bit of mongrel.
Stokes went on: “It’s trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in, understanding the situation and what you feel is required. And yeah, just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That is fight to me.”
The pleasing thing from an outsider’s point of view is that other players are putting their hand up and owning their poor decisions.
Vice-captain Harry Brook admitted on Monday he had batted recklessly.
“I’ll be the first person to stand up and say that they were bad shots. Shocking shots,” he said.
“Sometimes we’ve got to rein it in a little bit. Learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more and then realise when the opportunity arises to put pressure back on them.”
The real question will be, can a young squad adapt and change their approach. They had bunkered down for such a long time, can a new dog learn old tricks?
