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England’s media hailed their cricket team’s aggression on an “astonishing” opening day of the Ashes series while reacting with surprise to perceived negative tactics from Pat Cummins’ Australians.
“A declaration, with Joe Root still at the crease? Count it as the most astonishing moment of an unforgettably fearless opening day of England’s Bazball era,” wrote Oliver Brown in the UK Telegrapgh.
“When you style yourselves as the great daredevil entertainers, you can either conjure cricket of the gods or fall flat on your face. Such is the crude binary for England, a team fast proving that they are oblivious to any middle ground between triumph and calamity.
“Theirs is an ethos founded, fundamentally, on death or glory. And on an auspicious, sun-drenched day here at Edgbaston, Ben Stokes’s players proved beyond the faintest vestige of doubt that they intend to make this a glorious summer.”
Brown said England’s decision to declare “mere moments after Root reached his century took audacity to previously unheard-of levels, standing as testament to their refusal to die wondering.
“All around Edgbaston, acclaim for the decision mingled with palpable incredulity.
“This was the moment when England’s reinvention under Brendon McCullum could have collided headlong with unpleasant reality. It was the moment when, freighted by the expectation of a nation, their heedlessness to risk could have been shown to be less courageous than plain foolish. And yet, true to the insatiable, buccaneering spirit they have displayed over these past 12 months, they ran towards the danger, staring down Australia’s quicks and the enigmatic variations of Nathan Lyon to produce a first day as stirring as any in Ashes history.”
Nick Hoult, also writing in the Telegraph, raved: “What a first day. Ashes cricket has run for 140 years but a series cannot have had a start as exhilarating as this before.
“It was like lift off at Cape Canaveral, the Ashes rocket firing into the stars in a cloud of fire and smoke. Joe Root’s hundred, his first for eight years against Australia, was greeted with a full throated Edgbaston roar but the crowd fell into a stunned silence when moments later Ben Stokes declared.”
The tone was set when Zak Crawley hit the first ball of the series for four, and Australia surprised by opting for negative field placings from the start, that may have played into the hosts’ hands.
“Australia’s ground fielding was ragged, they dropped two catches and failed to review a feather behind from Crawley. It is ominous that even in these conditions, and with such defensive fields, they created so many openings,”warned Hoult.
Barney Ronay, in the Guardian, was gushing in praise for Root.
“Root got to 50 off 74 balls to his hundred off 145 as the sun began to dip a little above the floodlights, and just before England’s declaration (er, what?) at 393 for 8. He has more than 1,200 runs now in the Stokes era, at an average of 70, with five hundreds. This is an all time talent, blooming again just as Test cricket reaches its own watershed moment,” Ronay wrote.
England’s Joe Root celebrates reaching his century. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
“For all the strange, jittery psychic energy of England’s cricket, the warmth, the man-feelings, Root’s post-captaincy bloom has been one of its simpler, happier storylines.”
David Lloyd, in the Daily Mail, commented on the brazen declaration.
“To go and declare on the first day of an Ashes Test match is unprecedented! The sheer effrontery of it by Ben Stokes.
“But are we at all surprised? It’s nothing new. The extraordinary thing is that he’s got Joe Root in unbeaten on 118 so it is a huge call. This England side is turning Test cricket on its head!”
The BBC’s Stephan Shemilt summed up the general reactions around Stokes’ declaration decision.
“England piling up 393-8 at more than five runs an over was made all the more compelling by Australia’s attempts to contain them, but that was nothing compared to Ben Stokes’ jaw-dropping declaration half an hour before the close,” he wrote.
“The deep point fielder posted on the boundary for the very first ball of the day was a sign of things to come. Rarely less than three men back, often four or five. If Cummins could have done, he would have had a boundary-rider in Balsall Heath and a sweeper in Sparkhill.
“On the one hand, it was un-Australian. Not fighting fire with fire, but trying to avoid it by diligently completing a risk assessment. On the other, pragmatism can be seen as a sign of strength, having enough confidence in your team to adapt to the situation.
Pat Cummins of Australia speaks to his players during the opening day of the Ashes series. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
“It did mean Travis Head and Nathan Lyon were chosen to spend pretty much all day on the fence, closer to the rowdy England fans than their own team-mates.
Head got serenaded for dropping an admittedly tough chance off Harry Brook, Lyon the subject of a rude comparison with Moeen Ali from the Hollies Stand.
“Both will go to sleep with Edgbaston ringing in their ears.
“Was it successful? As ever, these things only reveal themselves in the fullness of time.
“However, the facts are this. England took 54 singles in the first session, the most ever recorded in the history of Test cricket. Australia didn’t manage a maiden until the 37th over of the day and bowled only one more.”
Oliver Holt, in the Daily Mail, shaped his thoughts around the Crawley boundary that launched an intriguing series.
“Stokes had insisted throughout the build-up to this match that England would not compromise their new approach just because this was the Ashes and this was Australia. Here, now, in one shot, was the proof of it,” wrote Holt.
“It would be nice to think it will set the tone for the rest of the series. It certainly set the tone for the day. Initially, that meant intimidating Australia into uncharacteristically defensive field placings. The third slip disappeared midway through the second over and never returned. And the presence of a deep extra cover for Crawley and Ben Duckett said a lot about the contrasting approaches of the two teams.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
“Australia put four men on the boundary, sweepers on the onside and the offside. It was the cricket equivalent of parking the bus.
“Many expressed disappointment and surprise that Australia had reacted so negatively. In the commentary box, former England ODI skipper Eoin Morgan said Australia had blinked first. Crawley’s first-ball boundary and all the intent it signalled seemed to have spooked Cummins and his side.
“There were times during the day, of course, when momentum swung and Australia seemed to be getting the upper hand. Losing Harry Brook and Stokes in quick succession in the session after lunch was one of those spells. But England never lost their intent. They did not lose their ambition or their desire to entertain and attack.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain, also in the Daily Mail, said fans should strap in for a wild ride.
“At the start of this Ashes series everyone was looking to see how Australia would react to England’s style of cricket: whether they would actually say ‘you can’t do that against us,’ set normal fields and wish them the best of luck,” he wrote.
“In fact, by posting a deep point as early as the first over it looked like they were admitting ‘we know you can do that against us, and we are going to have to set the field accordingly.’
“They were reacting before anything had happened in effect and it was a surprise in some ways to see Australia blink first.
“The opening day has shown us what this summer has in store for us – there will be times when we will think that this Australian side is too good and England can’t play Bazball against them and others when they prove they can do it no matter the opponents.
“This Ashes will go one way and the other, and very rarely can you say such a thing with confidence.”
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