England's Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley talk to Chris Evans about Bazball and going 'a bit harder' in the next Ashes test

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22 Jun 2023, 09:47

England cricketers Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch to talk about the thrilling first Ashes test, and to speak all about Bazball.

England suffered a narrow, two-wicket defeat in an enthralling match at Edgbaston in Birmingham this week, meaning Australia are now 1-0 up in the five-test series. Ollie said: “It was a crazy week. Obviously, we were a bit gutted for about ten minutes about the result, and then we looked back on the five days of cricket, and the build-up before, and thought, ‘Wow, we’ve put on a show for five days’, and I think it hit home when you looked at your phone after and they weren’t, ‘Unlucky this week, mate, we’ll get them next week’. It was just, ‘Man, I’ve loved watching every minute of that test match’. And that’s kind of what we’re about as a team.”

Zak, who plays for Kent County Cricket Club added: “The crowd were immense all week, getting stuck into the Aussies in a big way, which is good, because we copped it Down Under!” 

Speaking about head coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum and captain Ben Stokes’ reaction after the game, he added: “Baz and Stokesy spoke really well in the changing room and said, ‘Cricket won this week. It was great for the game, and we come back stronger’.”

A term you will no doubt have heard if you have paid any attention to the Ashes is ‘Bazball’, which refers to the head coach’s cricketing philosophy. Ollie, who plays for Surrey, explained: “It’s probably just the most positive way you could ever imagine playing cricket. If you’re comparing it to football, for example, it’s like trying to win 12-10. 

“Our theory as a batter is, you score as many runs as you can. It doesn’t matter how quickly, or how slowly you get them, but if you want to try to hit the most ridiculous shot that no-one could ever think of, you’re 100 percent backed to do it!” 

He added: “It’s like test cricket’s never been played!”

Zak continued: “The first time it happened was at Trent Bridge in the second test match of the summer last year. And we came in at tea, and we needed, like, 160 to win off maybe 35 overs, which is a decent chase, over four an over, and he said, ‘I don’t care if we’re nine down, every batsman’s going for this. We’re not playing for the draw’.

“And that’s pretty much it. We don’t really care about losing, we’re just going to try to win.”

Speaking about Ben Stokes decision to declare in the first innings on day one of the Edgbaston test, Ollie told Chris: “There’s no regrets over that declaration, and I think that’s, again, what we’re about as a team. We make these decisions and we back them 100 percent. And once they’re made, that is us, and we’re gonna immerse ourselves into that job.

“They’ve won that game with seven overs left in the day. We don’t want to play for draws. Through declaring, even on that first day, we’ve given ourselves more overs to try and bowl them out in on that last day.”

Zak concurred, saying: “That is a nightmare time to bat for them, 15, 20 minutes till the end. I would have hated that if I was them. I would have hated that, if I was them.” 

Regarding the approach to next week’s second test at Lords, Zak said that Bazball will once again be in full effect. “He even said we should go a bit harder next game,” he revealed.

Ollie added: “Hopefully we can win at Lords next week, but even if we’re 2-0 down, I can guarantee every person in that changing room is thinking, ‘Right, we’ll just win 3-2.”

cinch is the principal partner to England Cricket. The Ashes 2nd test begins at 11am next Wednesday 28yh June at Lord’s. Coverage is on Sky Sports with updates On talkSPORT.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.