Surely, the odd declaration, which presumably had the blessings of coach McCullum, was not the only reason England found themselves on the losing side. Stokes’s moves on Day Five at Edgbaston were questionable too
England captain Ben Stokes (left) and head coach Brendon McCullum during a net session at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on June 14. Pic/Getty Images
Tactics have played a big role in shaping the destiny of many a sporting event. Sometimes extraordinary moves are vindicated through brilliant performances. At times, they turn out to be disastrous. All the same, they end up being a part of history, get talked about, get forgotten, and return for discussion when someone else does something similar.
Ben Stokes’s declaration became the first talking point of the 2023 Ashes. What was a touch surprising about England’s 393-8 declaration was the fact that they reckoned without the experience of Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja as they were asked to bat in the dying moments of the first day’s play. Stokes reasoned after Tuesday’s finish to the Test that he was hoping for a couple of wickets that Day One evening and no batsman likes to go in to bat for 20 minutes before stumps.
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While that is true, did he consider Warner was playing Test No. 105, while Khawaja had figured in 61 Tests before the Birmingham one?
Also, and more importantly, England hadn’t yet reached 400 with their most accomplished batsman—Joe Root—looking dangerous at 118 with seven fours and four sixes.
Surely, the odd declaration was not the only reason why England found themselves on the losing side. Stokes being persistent with Ollie Robinson and not bringing on his most experienced pace bowler (James Anderson) or himself to at least scare off Nathan Lyon on the final day, was flabbergasting too. Even Root, who held on to a caught and bowled opportunity to send back Alex Carey, could have been tried. If all this is being unfair to the brilliant batting from Pat Cummins and Lyon, it is not intended. It was grit and gumption of the highest order and Cummins showed what a captain must do when defeat was staring him in the face.
The result proved that Stokes wasn’t right in his declaration and if this gets covered with a sheet with Bazball emblazoned on it, then so be it.
The Birmingham result doesn’t bode well for the hosts in the remainder of the series. Sanjay Manjrekar’s observation on Twitter appeared sound. “Australia winning without any serious contribution from Smith & Labuschagne is a slightly ominous sign for England,” he wrote.
These two wonderful batsmen scored just 35 out of Australia’s 668 runs in Birmingham.
The scary part for England is that they ran Australia close, but when is the next time you can count on twin failures for both Labuschagne and Smith? Also, who can rule out many more runs off the blades of Warner and Travis Head? It will get very confronting for the England bowlers if Australia get in on a flat deck (not that Edgbaston wasn’t batsmen-friendly). They will score 600-plus, put all their fielders back, and watch England take the bait. England appear to be so caught up in their need to entertain and ‘move the game forward’ that the only thing going forward will be the Ashes urn—back to Jolimont Street—where Cricket Australia is headquartered in that great sporting city they call Melbourne.
Australia are playing the perfect game and will be happy to wait for England to self-destruct. England are full of Bazball at the moment, when the talk should be about captain Stokes and how should he be composing the revival tune.
Also Read: It can come unstuck pretty quickly: Australia's Tim Paine on England's 'Bazball' strategy
Every country has had their share of blunders or utterances that backfired, but why do I remember so many attached to England in particular? Remember how Tony Greig’s grovel comment made the West Indies tourists more determined to beat his team in the summer of 1976, which witnessed a 3-0 result for Clive Lloyd’s men?
Two years before that, they kept ace fast bowler John Snow out of their 1974-75 Ashes squad because apparently skipper Mike Denness wouldn’t be able to handle him. Result: Ashes lost 1-4.
On the same tour, they summoned 42-year-old Colin Cowdrey to boost their batting against the fury of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Max Walker. Cowdrey, although showing courage, had 41 as his best show in five Tests.
In 2002, Nasser Hussain won the toss in the opening Test at Brisbane and put Australia in. The hosts feasted at their fortress and piled up 492 with centuries from Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting.
In the first Test of the 1975 Ashes, Denness put Australia in after winning the toss. The all-conquering visitors rode the storm in terms of weather conditions, scored 359 and didn’t have to bat again in the Test. Lillee, Thomson and Walker did the rest, as the Australians won by an innings and 85 runs.
Denness did not captain England again. He resigned after reading a report on the morning of the second day, which said the selectors were upset with his decision to send Australia in.
He felt he was betrayed and elaborated on his anguish in a book. All this took place at Edgbaston, the very venue where Stokes shockingly pulled down the shutters of his first innings.
Coincidentally, Denness titled his book, I Declare.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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