"The declaration showed that they underestimated Australia" - Salman Butt slams England's decision-making after loss in 1st Ashes 2023 Test
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt questioned England's decision to declare early on Day 1 of the first Ashes Test 2023 at Edgbaston and reckons that cost them the game.
The hosts were 393-8 with Joe Root going all guns blazing at 118* when Ben Stokes decided that they would like to have a crack at the Aussies at the fag end of the day. Butt feels the decision backfired, as England couldn't get ahead of the game by scoring some extra runs.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Salman Butt had to say about England's declaration:
"England also made many mistakes. The declaration showed that they underestimated Australia. Their policy of doing things quickly won't work against Australia because the latter aren't an inexperienced team.
"They have experience, aggression and also aren't someone whose focus is not Test cricket. Who knows, England might continue to do this still since they're adamant about it."
Butt also opined that if England knew they were dishing out a flat pitch, they should have played an out-and-out speedster like a Mark Wood for the short-ball ploy:
"If they had to use the short ball plot so much, why didn't they play a proper speedster? Why all medium pacers? No matter how much short you bowl, the batters won't get troubled at that pace. Ollie Robinson suddenly won't become Mark Wood, neither will Anderson or Broad."
England didn't pose any threat in their pace attack: Salman Butt
Salman Butt said that the medium pace of the trio England had was not going to bother the Aussies much with the short ball ploy, as their lack of pace gave the Australians enough time to counter. He felt Moeen Ali's injury also meant that the hosts couldn't strike as much as they wanted to with spin:
"England didn't pose any threat in their pace attack. If you knew the wicket was this flat and placid, then you should have played Mark Wood, who would have bent his back and could have made things happen. Moeen Ali's finger getting injured only added to England's problems."
England have a lot of thinking to do ahead of the next Ashes 2023 Test at Lord's. It will be interesting to see who they replace if they intend to bring Mark Wood into the XI for extra pace.