"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that" - Mark Butcher on England's bold declaration on Day 1

Former England batter Mark Butcher said that he was flabbergasted by England's decision to declare their first innings on Day 1 of the ongoing first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

England have developed playing a highly-aggressive style of Test cricket since skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum took charge last year.

The idea is to guarantee a result even if it involves the risk of losing a game. It was evident as Stokes called back centurion Joe Root (118*) and Ollie Robinson (17*) just after the pair plundered 20 runs off a Nathan Lyon over.

England declared at 393/8 after 78 overs as they wanted Australia to face the new ball at the end of the day. However, Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja safely negated the new-ball threat for four overs before the umpires called stumps.

Speaking to Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast, Butcher remarked that England's declaration is likely to haunt them in the next two days of the match. The 50-year-old said:

"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that [declaration]. Great theatre and all the rest of it, wonderful. But how much would England have liked another 50 runs on top of their target as of right at this minute?"

He added:

"Playing fast and loose with totals in the first innings when time is very much on your side in Test matches … I understand it in games where you’re trying to put time back in. But at that point on day one of a Test match? Wow, what a decision that is. And that could yet come back to bite England on the backside at some point over the next couple of days."

The former Surrey captain also mentioned that it wasn't appropriate to call back Root when the latter was in tremendous form. Butcher said:

"The thing that you shouldn’t just throw your hands in the air at and say, ‘that’s just us being on the front foot’, is declaring your first innings closed when you’ve got a bloke on 120 playing like God and there are runs to be made in a Test match with a pitch that is going to deteriorate, that to me is nuts."

England lead by 35 runs at stumps on Day 3

The hosts bowled out Australia in the first innings for 386, thanks to their short-ball tactic that unsettled the visitors.

Veteran James Anderson produced a jaffa to breach Alex Carey's stumps between his bat and pad. It took a pinpoint yorker from Ollie Robinson to end centurion Usman Khawaja's (141) determination.

Robinson later dismissed Nathan Lyon and Cummins, while Stuart Broad got Scott Boland. All three wickets fell to the short-ball trick. Khawaja's brilliance helped Australia to reduce England's lead to mere seven runs in the first innings.

All 🔟 Australian first innings wickets ☝

The 26th time in a row we've bowled out our opponents 💪 https://t.co/qVxdDKUblS

In their second innings, England lead by 35 runs at the end of 10.3 overs and have lost openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett after the conditions allowed Australian pacers to swing the ball in both directions.

The umpires called tea break as there were no signs of the rain stopping. Eventually, stumps were called. The play will resume on Day 4 on Monday, June 19.