"I've never seen Australia with four men on the boundary" - Sir Alastair Cook surprised by Pat Cummins' defensive tactics from the word go
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook expressed his surprise at Australia adopting defensive tactics right from the start against Ben Stokes and co. on Day one of the Ashes in Edgbaston. The visitors struggled to contain the English batters, who piled up 393-8 in just 78 overs before the declaration.
Zak Crawley made a huge statement with a lavish drive through the off side on the first ball of the contest bowled by Pat Cummins. The brazen approach forced the opposition skipper to send men deep after only a couple of overs.
Admitting that such defensive tactics do not align with traditional Australian values and approach, Alastair Cook said on BBC Test Match Special after Day 1:
"It feels a bit un-Australian. They normally fight fire with fire,'. I've never seen Australia with four men on the boundary."
England responded with the deep field setting by minimizing dot balls and running hard between the wickets. The team recorded the lowest dot ball percentage across the first 25 overs of a Test, a list which they dominate following their revamp in approach under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
"From an England perspective, it is fantastic to see Australia so defensive" - Kevin Pietersen
England did not have a hard time in the first innings after opting to bat first on a dry, flat surface at Edgbaston. The fall of wickets stemmed from England's tendency to increase the scoring rate, which was well over four runs per over by the end of their innings late on Day 1.
Opining that Pat Cummins and co. have got their tactics wrong against a free-flowing England side, former England player Kevin Pietersen said on air:
"They have got it wrong, but from an England perspective, it is fantastic to see Australia so defensive."
He continued:
"I just think first morning of an Ashes series, I would have thought that Pat Cummins would have said, 'OK England, give it a go. We don't mind. Hit us for six fours … a couple of sixes, no problem. Then we will go to plan B. I think that they went straight to plan-B."
The visitors had to play out four overs before the close of play on the opening day. The duo of Warner and Khawaja negotiated the brief test well after England sprung up with a late declaration call following Joe Root's unbeaten century and fifties from Crawley and Jonny Bairstow.