England have given up wickets with their short ball tactics, but could still be ahead. Photo: Reuters/Peter Cziborra
Bazbol's gospel confuses any agnostic. Basically, that's its beauty: it leaves you either electrified or furious, and nothing in between. So when, for one intoxicating 45-minute period, during which English batsmen mowed down the ball in a manner more familiar to Yankee Stadium than cricket, the response was sharply polarized. «Much better,» purred Kevin Pietersen, unaccustomed to extravagant throwing, while Jim Maxwell criticized the Test Match Special's approach as «blasphemous baseball tactics.» Such is the life of this team, to which indifference does not apply.
It seems that they exist in an eternal whirlpool. As Ben Duckett said after a wild evening session, there is nothing deliberate about their choice. They simply react to the circumstances in front of them, sometimes wisely, sometimes carelessly, but almost never predictably. As a result, judging by the latest evidence here at Lord's, one can't help but notice the fun. Whether you viewed the 278 out of four as a confirmation of England's methods or as an indictment, you had to admit that the way they got there was impressive.
And why should anyone be surprised? The stance instilled by Ben Stokes and Brandon McCallum is that nothing should hold England back from their basic principle of attack when the chance presents itself. So when Pat Cummins instructed his seamstresses to start seasoning the top order with short pieces, their first impulse was not to shrink back into their shells. On the contrary, their first thought when they saw Mitchell Stark's bouncers rushing towards them at a speed of 150 km/h was to try to catch them to the border.
It was interesting for Cummins to see how England would react. It was partly out of necessity: Nathan Lyon was grimacing over a potentially serious calf injury and had no choice but to tell his pacemaker quartet to step up the horror. But it was also a calculated psychological ploy: Cummins felt his opponents' egos wouldn't let them leave short balls alone. A shrewd move, as it turned out when he watched Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root die after careless dashes.
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Conventional logic dictated that England had to rein in the madness, endure the pressure, not be tempted to take on Stark and Josh Hazlewood at full strength. But then you remembered that the key principle of Bazball is to run towards danger. And who can do it better than Harry Brook, who came to crease with a Major League Baseball sticker on the back of his bat? It wasn't a cosmetic gesture at all, as Brook fired a flurry of fours through his leg, and his love of the aerial route caused a couple of heart-in-mouth moments.
He suggested one tricky catch. a chance for Marnus Labuschagn, which, if he had taken it, might have left him reckless. Instead, he ended his day five minutes to half a century, helping close Australia's lead to 138. On that basis, should Brooke or those who doubt him and his impulsive fellow bazball players be criticized for being stupid?
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There are no prizes for guessing which side of an argument Pietersen fell on. He liked the insolent attitude of England towards the most disgusting deliveries of Australia. “They went through all the stages,” he said. «They cultivated their abilities.» Pietersen certainly had the form of a box office player when common sense advised against it. He won everyone's admiration for throwing Brett Lee over the rope during his 158-point streak at the Oval in 2005. On the other hand, he also received a furious rebuke from Graham Gooch for attempting the same stunt in Perth during the 2013/14 Ashes tour. when England was whitewashed.
“He was caught in the middle of a baseball toss,” Gooch, then a member of the backstage staff, later recalled. «I let him talk on the balcony about duties.» He was right: Pietersen paid little attention to conditions, least of all to the capricious Fremantle Doctor. But you feel that now there will be no such Gooch-style lectures.
England is a party authorized to take risks, on the understanding that there will be no sizzling investigations later. If Brook wants to thrash the Cummins and company Babe Ruth style, neither his teammates nor his coaches will complain. Yes, traditionalists look through their fingers. However, this is part of the Bazball contract, which invites everyone to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
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