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‘For all the nonsense…’: ‘Shocked’ Pietersen, Morgan attack Australia captain Cummins' tactics in Ashes vs England
Former England captains Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and former Australia skipper Mark Taylor were heavily critical of Australia captain Pat Cummins.
Australia's defensive tactics in the first session of the Ashes opener against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham left former cricketers scratching their heads. Former England captains Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and former Australia skipper Mark Taylor were heavily critical of Australia captain Pat Cummins for not setting attacking fields with the new ball and allowing England's top-order to get off to a flier despite getting the early wicket of Ben Duckett in the fourth over of the match.
That England would continue with their aggressive approach was evident when Zak Crawley smashed the first ball of the Test through covers by driving on the up was the biggest proof. But what surprised the experts was how Cummins went on the defensive straight away by keeping boundary riders as early as the second and third over of the match.
"Australia have got it wrong. They have set a field as if both players are batting on a hundred. They set a field for all the nonsense that was being said before the start of the series," said Kevin Pietersen on commentary.
Pietersen also criticised the pitch on offer, calling it flat and docile. "The wicket has been very docile. It has been brilliant to bat. The field is set for a short format game. I just think, the first morning of an Ashes series, you'd thought Cummins would have said 'give it a go. hit us for seven fours, a couple of sixes. Then we go to plan B.' But they straightaway moved to plan B," he added.
Former Australia Mark Taylor who was in the commentary box with Pietersen, agreed with the former England batter.
"I tend to agree. If England were playing bazball, you'd think they'd be hitting more boundaries but they are not. they have taken 26 singles in the first hour. That's just not done," he said.
England's 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan said he was "shocked" to see Australia's tactics. "Shocked to see how defensive they have been. Australia have been the first to blink," Morgan said.
Pietersen was not please with England captain Ben Stokes, who declared their innings at 393 for 8 towards the end of Day 1.
"We saw Australia bat there now and it didn't miss the middle of the bat. I didn't like the declaration," he added.
England captain Ben Stokes took a surprising decision of early declaration of the first innings on day 1 when Joe Root was batting well at 121*. The English skipper asked visitors to play four overs before the day get called off.
"We were talking about the declaration, we were thinking about the declaration, but two or three years ago there would not have even been a hint of a declaration. But with this team, are we surprised? I don't think we are but I am a little bit surprised only because of how flat this wicket actually is," the Former English batter added.
