The much-awaited first Test of Ashes 2023 finally got underway on June 16 at Edgbaston. The series has been a highly anticipated affair with both teams coming into it at the top of their game. England captain Ben Stokes opted to bat first after winning the toss in the opening Test.
Under the management of Head Coach Brendon McCullum, England has been in tremendous form in the recent past with their aggressive nature of playing. On the other hand, the recently crowned World Test Championship 2023 winners, Australia will be eyeing to counter the aggressive approach and retain the trophy. After Ben Stokes took over as the captain in 2022, The Three Lions dominated Test cricket with their “Bazball” strategy. They have dominated almost every game that has played in recent times.
The home side, England is looking to get the series off strongly. Zak Crawley smashed Pat Cummins for a four on the very first delivery of the day on Day One. Following this moment, the entire game was a roller coaster with England ending the Tea session tottering at 240/5. Fans on Twitter described England’s continued all-out onslaught as alarming as it prompted Australia to set up defensive fields in just the fifth over of the day but on the other end, there were fans who criticized this as self-destructive batting.
Here are some of the tweets from the fans citing the bizarre outcome from the Bazball brand of cricket for England;
Ashes Day 1 like a subdued T20 match. #Bazball
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) June 16, 2023
we should kick Pujara out and start playing bazball. I think it would suit our batters very well.
— Mikhail (@SellTerStegen) June 16, 2023
Zak Crawley begins the #Ashes with a boundary! ?#ENGvsAUS #Ashes2023 #Bazball pic.twitter.com/v25cmRhlzZ
— OneCricket (@OneCricketApp) June 16, 2023
Bazball or Bizarreball? That is just terrible luck. #Ashes2023
pic.twitter.com/lEfJnma5jz— Vipin Tiwari (@vipintiwari952) June 16, 2023
It's time to show some "BazBall
Root hits six #Ashes pic.twitter.com/6awKhi0c26
— CricJigyasa (@CricJigyasa) June 16, 2023
Sometimes BazBall look Bizarre
?sonyliv#ENGvsAUS #Ashes23 pic.twitter.com/bTXuvCbdGq
— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) June 16, 2023
They are playing test match at almost 5 run/over. And its just day 1 ?
Bazball ????— Aparna (@AppeFizzz) June 16, 2023
As I was saying, what a brilliant decision to recall Moeen as the Bazball incarnate cricketer he is.
— frank_morrish (@frank_morrish) June 16, 2023
Notably, since Stokes assumed the role of full-time captain, England has won 11 of the 13 tests that have been played, and they are aiming to win the Ashes for the first time since 2015. Australia, on the other hand, has managed to keep the trophy since 2017 and is entering the series in excellent shape after being named the World Test Champions. The team managed by Pat Cummins defeated India by 209 runs to take home the cherished mace.
