In the highly anticipated first Ashes Test between England and Australia, all eyes are on England’s captain Ben Stokes and their unique ‘Bazball’ approach, which is gaining significant attention. Stokes’ aggressive captaincy and bold tactics have left cricket experts astonished throughout the match.
One of the standout moments occurred on the opening day when Stokes declared England’s first innings at 393/8, a move that surprised many. This declaration set the tone for England’s attacking mindset and showcased their intent to dominate the game from the outset.
Stokes’ strategic brilliance was further evident on Day 3 when he employed a distinctive field placement to dismiss the Australian star, Usman Khawaja. This move demonstrated his ability to think outside the box and outsmart the opposition.
The English bowlers admirably supported Stokes’ fearless leadership, bundling out Australia for 386 runs and securing a slender seven-run lead for England in the first innings. However, despite the impressive performance by the England pacers, former all-rounder Kevin Pietersen believes that the current lot of bowlers are not as fearsome as their predecessors.
Pietersen compared the current English bowlers to past pace stars such as Mitchell Johnson and Shoaib Akhtar, who possessed more raw pace and aggression. Pietersen did single out Mark Wood as a potential game-changer who could make a similar impact with his express pace. However, Wood is not part of the Edgbaston Test.
Pietersen’s assessment came during a discussion regarding Australian batsman Travis Head‘s struggles in facing short-pitched deliveries, highlighting the need for genuinely quick bowlers who can exploit such weaknesses.
“There’s a reason why the bowlers targeted in there (short deliveries) because we do feel, well everybody feels he (Travis Head) has an issue. And I don’t mean to be disrespectful at all to the single bowling lineup but they’re (England pacers) not to be feared. And I’ll say that from a pace wise perspective where you’ve got guys bowling at 80 mile an hour, 83 mile an hour. You don’t have Mitchell Johnson running in at 95 or Shoaib Akhtar, or even Woody (Mark Wood). Woody will run in and he will test you?” said Pietersen on Sky Sports.
“So you need to have your wits about you when it comes to that instinctive way of playing. Whereas against (Stuart) Broad at 82-83 and (Ollie) Robinson at 80-82. I’m sorry the way that he played it wasn’t as good as he should be playing it and absolutely no way. So it’s a problem and when you get targeted with a short ball, it rocks your foundations as a batter,” he added.
