Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 23 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin slammed England for their poor show with the bat during the first Ashes Test at Perth, which saw Aussies chase down 205 runs on day two, asking the question, “How reckless could even reckless get?”.
England’s much-hyped ‘Bazball’ received perhaps the biggest jolt of its existence. Designed and brought into by the team for years leading up to the away Ashes series and a ray of positivity, intent that could help England secure their first series win in Australia since 2011, it was a complete failure execution wise, with England experiencing batting collapses across both their innings and nobody sticking around for more than 61 balls, the highest played by Harry Brook in first innings.
During the first innings, England’s top order was shaken to 39/3 by Mitchell Starc. Then later, from 115/4, England went to 172 all out. In the second innings, England had a lead of 40 runs in hand. But once again, they went from 59/1 to 104/7, and it was a half-century stand between tailenders Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson that took England’s lead beyond 200 runs. However, a target of 205 runs was not enough as a Travis Head masterclass left England chasing leather all over the park, and the chase was done within 28.2 overs.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said, “But how reckless will reckless suffice? I am actually thinking, where will the bandwidth of the word ‘reckless’ remain? If you keep putting everything into that bandwidth, how reckless can even reckless get? Because I am saying that, you know, there are many things. I do not want to take the names of players. Even in the Indian team, there will be many next-generation players who, I mean, the fielders are back on the boundary, yet they take the chance, they hit lofted shots.”
“As a batting group, how reckless can you be? Because on the first day, you were knocked out for 172, you lost five wickets in the space of 12, 15 or maybe 20 runs. After that, your bowling attack wrested the initiative back and gave you a 40-run lead. And your first job as a batting unit is to give your bowlers enough rest. And Rahul (Dravid) bhai always says, Give your bowlers overnight rest and see how your bowlers respond. They came and cleaned up the last wicket. The England bowlers, I am sure, would have wanted to put their feet up, and in no time they are back on the park looking to defend 200, which is paltry,” he added.
Ashwin said that England has been hammered for “reckless cricket”.
“So I know Michael Vaughan was saying on commentary that this team knows how to come back. I hope they do, because this will become a very, very, very long tour otherwise,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite Ben Duckett (21 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) showing sublime touch, England slumped to 39/3, with Joe Root’s duck being a highlight of Mitchell Starc’s initial six-over burst that gave him three wickets. A half-century stand between Ollie Pope (46 in 58 balls, with four boundaries) and Harry Brook stabilised things for England, but half the side was back in the hut for 115 runs.
Later, Brook (52 in 61 balls, with five fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (33 in 22 balls, with six fours) tried to counter-attack, but Starc (7/58) and Doggett (2/27) put a lid on England’s scoring, who were also committing batting harakiri with some questionable shot selection. England was undone for 172 runs in 32.5 overs.
In their first innings, Australia found it really hard dealing with the pace and bounce of Jofra Archer (2/11) and Brydon Carse (3/45) as they slumped to 31/4. Travis Head (21 in 35 balls, with a four) and Cameron Green (24 in 50 balls, with two fours) stitched a 45-run stand, but a five-wicket haul by England skipper Ben Stokes (5/23) led to the Aussies being undone for 132 runs. England led by 40 runs.
England did lose Crawley for another duck to Starc, but a half-century stand between Ben Duckett (28 in 40 balls, with three fours) and Ollie Pope (33 in 57 balls, with two fours) took England’s lead beyond 100 runs. But this upper hand was short-lived as the trio of Scott Boland (4/33), Starc (3/55), and Brendan Doggett (3/51) took wickets at regular intervals, leaving England at 104/7 at one point. A half-century stand between Brydon Carse (20 in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Gus Atkinson (37 in 32 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took England to a lead above 200 runs. They were skittled out for 164 runs, setting the Aussies 205 runs to win.
Head (123 in 83 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (51* in 49 balls, with six fours and a six) won the match single-handedly for Aussies, chasing the target in just 28.2 overs.
Starc secured the ‘Player of the Match’ for his ten-wicket haul. (ANI)
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