Melbourne [Australia], June 15 : Former Australian Test captain Tim Paine believes that England's aggressive strategy "Bazball" might swiftly backfire if they are put under a lot of strain. Australia wants to build on their previous trip to England in 2019 when they missed the opportunity to win a series there for the first time since 2001.
The hosts England will be aiming to avenge their 4-0 loss in the 2021-22 season. The Ashes begin on Friday at Edgbaston, with England having already named their starting XI for that first Test.
Both teams will be motivated to get off to a good start as the Ashes will serve as the opening encounter of the third World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. After losing the previous Ashes series Down Under 4-0 in 2021-2022, England had to pay a price.
The hosts are also charged up by the 'Bazball' revolution brought by skipper Ben Stokes and Test head coach Brendon McCullum, which has seen England win 11 of their last 13 Tests and dominate their opponents with an attacking, aggressive and positive cricket that aims for victory.
Paine told the Sydney Morning Herald that if the Aussies get it right and play their best cricket, "it (Bazball) can come unstuck pretty quickly for England".
"I do think Australia have got the edge. I think whilst England are playing a different brand of cricket, and they're confident about it, to me the team looks pretty similar to what we saw in Australia last year."
"It will be fascinating to see how the Aussies go about it. Do you set really defensive fields because they've shown that they'll come out to score really quickly? Keep your catchers up and drop some blokes out on the fence and see if England want to park their ego, or they're going to keep trying to go hard," he said.
Paine said it doesn't take much for batters to begin harbouring doubts, particularly when things don't turn out the way they had hoped.
"So there are some guys there that yeah, they've had a good 12 months, but the Ashes intensity and the scrutiny goes up one hundred per cent. It only takes a nick or a couple of lbws and I think some of those guys might start doubting themselves again," Paine stated.
With an aggressive mindset, England has amassed impressive victories against opponents like South Africa, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan.
Australia, on the other hand, is playing their customary dogged brand of cricket and is high on confidence following their massive victory over India in the WTC final.
England XI for first Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonathan Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and James Anderson.
Australia squad (first two Test matches): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
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