Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia, has discussed England’s “Bazball” style, asserting that the aggressive strategy was intended only to win the Ashes in Australia. Ricky Ponting publicly questioned England’s public messaging on their style as the highly anticipated 2025–26 Ashes approaches.
The way England plays Test cricket has transformed as a result of the Bazball revolution led by captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. The style has drawn criticism for being careless and inconsistent, even while it has produced incredible victories and audacious declarations. According to Ponting, England is not being truthful about this goal.
According to the former, England has invested two whole years in developing a team and a mentality that are suited to Australian circumstances. He thinks that their extremely aggressive style, which was evident from the very first ball of the 2023 Ashes when Zak Crawley hit a four through cover, is a deliberate preparation for the quick, bouncy surfaces in Australia.
As a team, they have been preparing for this for the past two years, since the 2023 Ashes. I think Bazball was made specifically for this one series, and I know Brendon rather well. Forget about the events of the previous two years; the focus was on assembling a team and playing a style that would help them win Test matches in Australia. I’m excited to watch how they perform because they have only done it four times in the last 25 years and will have to do it at least three times this summer, Ricky Ponting stated on 7NEWS.
In the last two years, I’ve seen enough of them: Ricky Ponting
Ben Duckett and Crawley, England’s openers, will keep playing the same way, Ricky Ponting said. Additionally, he believes that Australia might construct smart fields and take advantage of their attacking impulses due to the predictability of their approach.
“They won’t change, in my opinion. Over the last two years, I’ve watched enough of them to know that they’ll play similarly. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley will continue to play in their usual manner. If England can win the toss and bowl, they should be able to outscore the opposition in the first innings and score more runs in the fourth. That won’t change,” he continued.
Ricky Ponting also criticised England for using Bazball’s public defence as a shield from criticism. He claimed that the attitude of “we don’t care if we lose” is unrealistic and in opposition to the honest way the winning Australian teams handled their errors.
And you can’t just stop playing Bazball after you’ve talked about it and the style of play so much over the last few years. You must keep on doing it. Australia can focus on that area. He said, “You can set different fields and use different tactics to make them and their egos come to you during a Test match, knowing that they have to come ultra-aggressive.”
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