AUS vs ENG: Former Australian Spinner Makes Scathing Attack On "Bazball", Opines On Jonny Bairstow's Controversial Dismissal

Former Australian spinner Xavier Doherty has targeted England’s “Bazball” approach in the ongoing Ashes 2023 series and said that it is a bit of a “flop” when it comes to England trying to play with that approach.

England batters have not been consistent as the “Bazball” approach has flattered to deceive as per the former Australian spinner. England were bowled out for 237 in the first innings in at Headingley in response to Australia’s 263 with skipper Ben Stokes top-scoring with 80.

Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score | Asia Cup 2023 | ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 | IND vs AFG 2023 | IND vs WI 2023

Doherty in a conversation with SEN Tassie said that he was disappointed with whatever he saw with Bazball and put it down to their wreckless approach with the bat.

“I went into this Ashes series looking forward to Bazball and this exciting brand of cricket that England play and it’s turned out to be a bit of a flop, I reckon,” he said on SEN Tassie.

“I think it’s just an excuse for them to go out and do whatever they want with no accountability and just be reckless. England have at times played some really good cricket and then just do something awfully stupid and then just say, ‘ah well, that’s all just part of it” he further added.

Doherty said that barring Ben Stokes the rest of the England batters have been wreckless and cited Moeen Ali’s dismissal in the second innings to prove his point.

This Test Match Is In A Reasonable Position: Xavier Doherty

IND vs AUS 2023 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs AFG 2023 | IND vs WI 2023 | Asia Cup 2023 | ICC World Cup 2023

“At the moment during this Test they’ve got themselves in a reasonable position… but outside Ben Stokes they’ve generally just been reckless and thrown the game back in favour of Australia,” Doherty said.

“Moeen Ali’s dismissal last night, it’s just unbelievable. They found themselves in a bit of strife and Ali and Stokes tried to wrestle the momentum back, Pat Cummins bounces him, he gets a top edge and it fell 20 meters short of a fielder, Australia the very next ball, puts a fielder right where the ball landed and he does the exact same thing and gets caught and walks off like, ‘it’s just the way we play’ he further said on Moeen Ali’s dismissal.

Xavier Doherty On Jonny Bairstow’s Dismissal

Doherty further spoke about the outrage post Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s. He said that the outrage was an opportunity for the English crowd to call Australians cheat while the truth is they have a mob mentality.

“It’s just another excuse for the English to call Australia cheats… it’s like a mob mentality,” he said.

“It’s just this unaccountable mindset that they’ve got, the rules don’t apply to us anymore so we’ll do and say whatever we feel like and then we’ll be the upholders of the spirit of cricket and we’ll tell other people what they should be doing,” he added.

Also Read: Ashes 2023: “It’s The Administrators Who Make The Mistakes And The Players Cop It In The Neck” – Ian Chappell On Jonny Bairstow’s Dismissal In Lord’s Test

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah