Nasser Hussain on England's approach: 'We didn’t need Bazball to beat Australia in 2001'

England's narrow two-wicket loss to Australia in the first Test of the Ashes at Edgbaston has already gone down in the history books as a fascinating battle between England's fresh brand of attacking, innovative Test cricket up against the World Test Champions and the formidable talent present in their ranks. 

On a flat pitch with very little to offer the bowlers and rain eating away close to an entire day's worth of play, Ben Stokes's captaincy and experimentation forced a result — one which was very close to going in England's favour, but that visiting captain Pat Cummins was able to overturn thanks to his steadiness and quality with the bat in the fourth innings.

England's 'Bazball' strategy has worked well for them, as they have won 11 of the 15 Tests since the appointment of Brendon McCullum into the coaching position. England have looked a better team since, as Joe Root was freed up from captaincy duties and was allowed to flourish with the bat, while the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, and newcomer Harry Brook were given the license to play their shots and take advantage of situations they found themselves in. They have had big Test wins against the likes of India and South Africa, and made themselves a force to be reckoned with entering the next WTC cycle.

However, there were questions raised about Bazball potentially becoming too much of a distraction from playing cricket that looks to earn a positive result, as potentially too risky a manner to go about in a situation which demands victory over anything else. Stokes has spoken in the press about wanting to entertain and enliven the spirit of Test cricket in England, but former captain turned pundit Nasser Hussain took issue with that, reminding Stokes that winning was his primary goal as captain of the Test team.

"Remember, we've beaten Australia in England since 2001 playing the old-fashioned way. We didn't need 'Bazball' to beat Australia," said Hussain. After Australia had retained the Ashes throughout the 1990s and the first part of the 2000s, England finally won the famous 2005 series to win the rights to the urn, their first series victory over their rivals in nearly 20 years. They haven't lost a home series to Australia since that infamous 4-1 drubbing in 2001, but have also only managed to win 5 of their last 26 Tests since the whitewash loss of 2014 in Australia.

"They've got some serious players and some seriously tough players as well. You can't hide behind that (wanting to entertain)," continued Hussain. Winning Tests against Australia is still the most significant part of an England player's Test career, and according to the former captain, a loss needed to be seen as a loss, rather than lauded for producing interesting cricket.

"England lost in New Zealand as well, if you remember. I know they've had Ireland in between, but now they've lost here and there are two games of cricket they could have won, should have won." England lost to New Zealand by one run at Basin Reserve in February despite enforcing the follow-on: another Test considered to be an all-timer, but certainly one which England would be disappointed with as they marked only the fourth occasion a team lost after enforcing a follow-on.

Despite Hussain's contentions with the mentality behind the decisions made in this Test match and England's commitment to Bazball, the Kiwi came out in defence of the strategies used in the Test match himself. "The application to how we want to play right throughout was superb. A couple of things didn't quite go our way at times as well, but that's the nature of the game," said the England coach. While the early declaration on day 1 did risk a loss due to the narrow fourth innings target, it also gave England the best chance of winning, rather than allowing the match to dwindle away into a draw. It was clearly a risk McCullum and Stokes saw as worth taking, even if it didn't pay off.

The English bowlers were into the tail with Australia still needing over 50 runs, only two wickets in hand. England were favourites at that point, but Nathan Lyon's stoic partnership with Cummins pulled Australia over the line. Rather than a tactical erorr, the loss came down more to England's execution with ball late on day 5. 'Bazball' is a tactic which has suited them well since McCullum's appointment last year, and England will likely continue along that vein when the second Test gets underway at Lord's on June 28.