Ashes 2025: Glenn McGrath on Bazball and England’s failings
You wonder what scars will be left on the England team as Australia battled back and won the first Ashes Test so decisively.
What will they do with the rest of the series?
I don’t think anyone expected what happened on Saturday. When you look at the number of overs taken to complete the game, fast forward to Test cricket.
At lunch on the second day England were 105 ahead with nine wickets in hand. The field was still doing a lot. It looked very difficult for Australia to get back into the match.
From then on England’s shot selection was their undoing. Scott Boland produced arguably his worst performance for Australia in the first innings, then turned the tables in the second innings to be the catalyst for the comeback.
England’s batsmen were trying to hit balls from outside, above, through the covers.
Trying to score off those deliveries with those deliveries is the one thing you don’t do as a batsman in Australia.
This showed that England had not done their homework, were unable or unwilling to adapt.
England’s method and aggressive style are talked about a lot. I witnessed this up close during the 2023 Ashes in England. Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, they can be quite stubborn when it comes to sticking to this method.
It’s fine on slow, low pitches. On Australia’s fast-moving fields, this is a method fraught with danger. If England do not re-evaluate, they will struggle for the entire series.
As a bowler, I always felt that in the match against this England team.
I relied on my accuracy, bracing myself to hit the same spot on or off the stump with some bounce and nip.
Even if this England team were doing well, I’d be licking my lips at the prospect of bowling to them, knowing that one mistake could lead to three or four.
There are times when England can be a quality team. They have good players. Good players have the skill, but great players have the mental toughness and attitude to adequately adapt to the circumstances.
They were stunned by the turn of events at Perth Stadium, devastated by the way they were beaten. Now we will see what they are made of. Even as a true blue Australian, part of me wants to see them change just to show they can improve.
It was almost the same with their bowling. England’s first night attack was very good, they lost the plot by attacking on the second night.
All disciplines in Test cricket require a Plan B. It is often thought that England has only one way and if it does not work there is nowhere to go.
