Melbourne [Australia], December 9 : Former Australian captain Mark Taylor feels that the main problem in the first two Ashes Tests for England's batters is not the batters themselves, but rather how "mixed" the messaging is within the group, and urged the team to follow skipper Ben Stokes' actions as a batter rather than his messaging to go all out against an Aussie bowling line-up which is ageing and had been depleted of Josh Hazlewood and skipper Pat Cummins for the first two Tests.
England's attacking 'Bazball' approach as a batting unit did not pay them any dividends in the first two Ashes Tests. At the same time, they faced a helpless, two-day loss at Perth, courtesy of a Travis Head form; none of their batters, except centurion Joe Root, Zak Crawley and skipper Ben Stokes, managed to bat out for really long. After giving Australia a 177-run first-innings lead with 511, there was no coming back for England, as, except for a 96-run stand between Stokes and Will Jacks, they fell apart for 241, setting Australia an easy 69-run target to win.
Speaking to WWOS, Taylor said, "I do not think it is necessarily the personnel with their batting. I think it is more their approach. I feel watching England that the messaging is a bit mixed, and I think they are getting confused with how they actually want to play at times."
"They are being told to be expansive, to put their inhibitions aside and play with limited accountability, but you cannot do that. You cannot do that in Test match cricket, because people will always hold you to account, and so they should. That is why it is called Test cricket, and I think they are finding that out the hard way here in Australia," he added.
Taylor feels that the team should follow Stokes' more conservative style of play rather than his words encouraging the team to go hard from ball one. He pointed out England skipper's ability to see off the first spell, bat for a long time and "crush the ball anywhere" later on once settled.
"They batted in a very conservative way, and they flourished (Australian side). But Ben is telling his young chargers, like Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, and Ben Duckett, to be aggressive and to play without fear. But in Australia, if you do that on bouncy pitches, you get out," he said.
"And that is what's happening, they are getting out, and then people will hold them to account, even if you like it or you do not like it, it is going to happen."
"So I think that is where England needs to sometimes look at how Ben plays more so than how Ben actually talks at times. Because he certainly plays in a far more conservative way, and plays very well when he does that. He sees off the first spell and bats for a long time; when he gets on top, he can crush the ball everywhere. That is how Test cricket has been for a long, long time," he concluded his point.
Stokes, who has championed the 'Bazball' approach alongside coach Brendon McCullum, is in fact the only player, alongside Joe Root (260), to face at least 200 balls so far in the series, having faced 224 deliveries. His strike rate is 34.37, also the lowest amongst his teammates.
Following the match, Stokes made a rather pointed comment about his team, saying that his side is not currently the best at absorbing pressure and that they need to "find something".
Taylor pointed out that England could either play the traditional form of Test cricket by trusting their defence, going through a tough period, and attacking when the bowlers are bowling their second or third spell, or continue with their attacking ways and hope to get away with it.
"My way was always the second way; a lot of the younger guys in this England team seem to want to play the first way. They just go out there and swing hard and hope that the ball rolls for you."
"But on pitches where the ball carries through and bounces, which we've seen in the first two Test matches, that is a very high-risk strategy."
"And when it does not work, people will hold you to account, and as I said, people will hold you to account, and so they should. That's why you are a professional cricketer," he concluded.
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