Ashes 2023: "I Think They Went Straight To Plan B," Kevin Pietersen Slams Australia For Their Defensive Approach On Day 1 Of Ashes At Edgbaston

Published - 17 Jun 2023, 12:21 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM

Kevin Pietersen {PC: Twitter}

Former English cricketer Kevin Pitersen lashed out at Australia for their defensive approach in the ongoing Day 1 of the first Test of the Ashes 2023 at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. He said that the Pat Cummins-led went straight to plan B and he doesn’t think that they can attack anymore now.

England has impressed many with their Bazball approach on the first day of the ongoing Edgbaston technique. Despite them losing wickets at regular intervals, they have continued attacking Australia’s bowling lineup and have maintained a run rate of around 5.

It’s fair to say that Australia already looked wary of England’s Bazball technique as they kept defensive fields right after Zack Crawley hit four on the first ball. Their field placements in order to stop boundaries didn’t instil pressure and allowed the English batters to take easy singles.

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England scored 124 runs in the first session and then followed it with another 116-run session. What was impressive was even though they lost wickets, they didn’t take the backseat and kept putting pressure on the bowlers.

Kevin Pietersen believes that Australia set the fields based on the pre-series talk and has gone wrong in their approach. Speaking to broadcasters, he said:

“You feel like Australia have set fields based on the pre-series talk. There has been a lot of chatter about England’s approach. Australia have got it wrong. But from an English perspective, it’s fantastic to see Australia so defensive.”

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Ashes 2023: “They can’t now set attacking fields,” says Kevin Pietersen on Australia

Kevin Pietersen further went on to say that he backed Australia to keep attacking fields on Day 1 but it seemed that they went straight to plan B. He explained:

“The rotation of strike. It’s very short-form-like. Many of those reverse sweeps, we have seen. The field is set for it. I thought on the first morning of an Ashes series, Pat Cummins would have said ‘okay England, give it a go. Hit us for 6 fours, hit us for 7 fours, hit us for a couple of sixes, no problem’.

“I think they went straight to plan B. Where do they go? They can’t now set attacking fields. They have used their spinner early. The keeper came up, the keeper has gone back. Where do they go now? What’s plan C, what’s plan D?” He concluded.

Also Read: Ashes 2023: “The Only Way To Beat Australia Is To Go Into Combat Mode And Attack”- Kevin Pietersen