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Cricket Players'If Hazlewood, Cummins, Starc come at you on green top...': Smith says Australia 'keep joking' about England's 'Bazball'
Steve Smith had an interesting take on England's ‘Bazball’ approach, with which the side won the Test series against New Zealand 3-0 and defeated India in the rescheduled fifth and final Test earlier this week.
England produced a brilliant performance in the rescheduled fifth and final Test against India, beating the side by 7 wickets in Edgbaston to level the series 2-2. Since Brendon McCullum took over as the head coach of the side in the longest format of the game, England have been playing an aggressive brand of cricket, fondly called the ‘Bazball’. Under McCullum, England secured a 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand before registering a comprehensive win over India.
In the Edgbaston Test, England chased down a 378-run target with Joe Root (142*) and Jonny Bairstow (114*) slamming brilliant centuries. Following the victory, the English fans raved about the ‘Baz-ball’ again; however, Australia's star batter Steve Smith questioned whether England's approach will remain the same when they face the Aussie pace trio on a green top.
“The guys just keep joking about it. I think Andrew McDonald has had enough of talking about it!” Smith said during a chat with Cricket Australia. "Even someone like Alex Lees started to come down the wicket when he was on nothing. It's been exciting. I'm just intrigued to see how long it lasts, if it's sustainable.
“If you come on a wicket that's got some grass on it and Josh Hazlewood, [Pat] Cummins and [Mitchell] Starc are rolling in at you, is it going to be the same? We'll see what happens. I'm intrigued by it all, we'll see what happens,” Smith said.
Earlier, India head coach Rahul Dravid also spoke in detail about England's new style of play, insisting that it all depends on the kind of form the players are in.
“I would definitely say that the kind of cricket they have been playing in the last few months has been really good. They have been really good at chasing. That chasing is not easy in fourth innings in England. Whatever brand of cricket one wants to play, it depends a lot of the players and the kind of form they are in presently,” Dravid had said following the loss to England in Edgbaston earlier this week.
"When the players are in good form, your obviously play a more positive game, like we did in that innings where Pant and Jadeja were batting," he added."
