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‘They think they’re better than Tendulkar’: England torn apart as Ashes disaster sparks ‘Bazball is dead’ storm
Despite the loss at Gabba not being as brutal as the one in Perth, reactions across England have been scathing.
Former England cricketers and the media have slammed the Ben Stokes-led side after their abysmal eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba. Having already lost the opener in Perth, England now trail 0–2 and are staring at the prospect of an Ashes whitewash.
Australia were made to wait on Day 4 as the last recognised pair of Stokes and Will Jacks turned the overnight deficit into a lead. But once the partnership was broken, England collapsed quickly, leaving Australia a target of just 65. The Steve Smith-led side chased it down with ease in the final session to take an ominous 2–0 lead in the series.
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Despite the loss not being as brutal as the one in Perth, reactions across England have been scathing. Former captain Ian Botham even remarked that if he were an England supporter in Brisbane, he would “want to be paid to be here.”
“I’d be asking the ECB for a refund because this team for me is not prepared. I don’t think the bowlers are fit enough or strong enough,” he added on Triple M Radio.
'They think they are better than Sachin Tendulkar'
The Bazball approach has faced criticism for a while, but the noise grew louder after England’s batters fell in similar fashion across the first two Tests — repeatedly driving on the up and either getting caught behind or bowled. Despite the scrutiny, batting coach Marcus Trescothick insisted on Saturday that England would not abandon their aggressive template, reiterating that “we’re trying to play the way that we want to play.”
However, on Sunday, Stokes and Will Jacks briefly shifted the narrative, offering a glimmer of hope with an “old-fashioned” batting effort that kept Australia at bay for almost three hours.
Whether England tweak their method with the Ashes slipping away remains to be seen, but former cricketer Jonathan Agnew has already delivered his verdict — Bazball, he says, is “dead.”
“I think Bazball is unsustainable,” Agnew said on BBC’s Ashes Debrief. “It did it’s job. First year, it picked up some broken players. Gort them enjoying cricket again, winning games and people loved watching it. It was good entertainment, but it’s unsustainable. You can’t play one-dimensional Test cricket and it’s now at the crunch. I think Bazball is dead and we’re going to see something different next time."
In a scathing BBC column, England’s batting came under heavy fire for repeating the same attacking mistakes across two Tests, where the reckless shot-making to Sachin Tendulkar’s famous 241 in Sydney, where he intentionally avoided the cover drive to build a match-defining innings. By contrast, England’s players kept gifting wickets with the same shot.
“It is England’s batting that will cause the biggest recrimination,” the article read. “If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results, England have collectively lost their marbles and their wickets. Drive after drive. Edge after edge. Catch after catch. Bargain basement batting from a group playing like millionaires. Sachin Tendulkar once made 241 in Sydney by deliberately resisting the cover drive. This lot must think they are better than the Little Master. The Bazball empire is now at risk of capitulation.”
