Australia pulled off an unbelievable win in the first Ashes Test against England, going 1-0 up in the 5-match series. The game looked to be divided into two halves. While England continued with their aggressive approach, the so-called Bazball’, patience was the key for Australia. Chasing 281 on the rain-hit final day, the visitors needed 54 runs with 2 wickets in hand when Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and ace off-spinner Nathan Lyon stitched a match-winning partnership and turned the course of the game.
After a highly-electrifying contest at Edgbaston, the action shifts to the iconic Lord’s in a few days’ time. Ahead of the 2nd Test, England pacer Ollie Robinson wrote a column for the Wisden where he expressed his surprise over the Aussies not matching their intensity and being defensive too much.
“You just don’t see the Australians cautious and on the backfoot like that. As soon as we saw the field for that first over, we felt like we had a hold on them.
“Of course, it sounds weird because they won it, but I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play. If there’s any movement in the pitch at Lord’s, the way we’re playing compared to them is going to benefit us hugely,” Robinson wrote.
England’s positive approach didn’t get them across the line in the opening Test of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, leaving their record under Ben Stokes’ captaincy at 11 wins and four defeats.
Robinson revealed that coach Brendon McCullum was extremely positive after the match in Birmingham.
“He just said, ‘Lads, I’m immensely proud of the efforts that you’ve put in, we’ve made the game what it was. We were so close to pulling off an unbelievable victory. We played all the cricket in the game. If it wasn’t for us, the Australians wouldn’t have even had a chance to win,” Robinson wrote.
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There will be a lot of pressure on Robinson and England to bounce back in the second Test at Lord’s, which starts on June 28 but Robinson has vowed that the team will double down on their ‘Bazball’ approach, and won’t lose hope even if they go 2-0 down in the series.
“I have faith in this team that even if we went 2-0 down we could still win 3-2, because of the style of cricket that we’re playing. Obviously, we want the public to be invested in us and we want to win games for them.
“If they can keep backing us, I promise they’ll get rewarded, and 2-0 down could be 3-2 and we’ll see one of the greatest series ever. One thing I can guarantee. You’re going to see us come harder and harder,” he added.