"If they want to play in a very risky manner, they could lose every Test" - Ian Healy on England sustaining 'Bazball' throughout the Ashes
Ian Healy feels England could lose all Tests of the ongoing Ashes if they continue to follow the so-called 'Bazball' approach.
Australia completed a two-wicket win over England in the first Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday, June 20. They chased down a 281-run fourth-innings target, with Ben Stokes' Day 1 declaration and England's ultra-aggressive second-innings batting ensuring that the game was within their reach.
During an interaction on the SEN podcast 'Dwayne's World', Healy was asked whether 'Bazball' can be sustained over a five-Test series after a reversal in the first game, to which he responded:
"Yes, and keeping your nerves. If they want to play in a very risky manner, which is what 'Bazball' is, they could lose every Test. That's Australia's job to get that into their minds so that they don't trust their plan anymore."
The former Australian wicketkeeper highlighted that some players could lose their places in the XI if they fail continuously:
"Then we will see some players continually fail and maybe move out of the team, and things start to unravel a touch, but it's a really gutsy way to play and they will get better at it."
Stokes and Brendon McCullum have maintained that they don't mind their players failing while adopting an aggressive approach. However, regular adverse results could impact that thinking and they might be forced to take a slightly more conservative approach.
"There wasn't a whole lot of 'Bazball' in that game until the 2nd innings" - Ian Healy
However, Ian Healy believes England weren't overly aggressive in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test:
"As you said, it hasn't been tested in a five-match series. There wasn't a whole lot of 'Bazball' in that game until the second innings. I thought they batted just aggressively in the first innings, that's fine, the wicket was flat, so the shots were on. They didn't try to create and invent anything."
While acknowledging that Joe Root's reverse ramps were inventive, the cricketer-turned-analyst added that Ben Stokes' field settings to Usman Khawaja were just good captaincy:
"Joe Root's reverse scoop might be an invention in my eyes but how good is he at it. That was a little bit of 'Bazball' but it was just attacking batting. When they bowled, they tried some weird field placings to Usman Khawaja and ended up getting him out but that was just active captaincy, that's not 'Bazball'."
Healy pointed out that England resorted to a weird approach only in their second innings:
"So it wasn't really weird stuff until they started to bat. They all made runs quickly early and then got out. They have got to learn to play that way a little bit longer."
Healy highlighted that England lost the game because of their second-innings batting. He added that the finger should be pointed at their 273-run second-innings total and not at Ben Stokes' first-innings declaration.