Bazball is in England’s blood, believes Crawley

PTI

Visakhapatnam, January 31

England opener Zak Crawley today said most of his teammates have become better players since embracing the ultra-aggressive Bazball approach, which is way more compatible with their natural game than the traditional “take-your-time” strategy.

England are yet to lose a Test since pioneering Bazball under their New Zealand coach Brendon McCullum.

“I suppose it (Bazball) comes quite naturally as a lot of our teams are playing more aggressively. The mindset when I first came to England was to backlight or take your time and build a long innings and I didn’t think that came naturally to me and a few of the others,” Crawley said today. “A lot of us play a bit better under this regime,” he added.

After India’s loss in spin-friendly conditions in Hyderabad, there is a lot of chatter surrounding the possible nature of the Vizag wicket. However, Crawley isn’t much concerned about it.

“They’re absolutely a top side in their own conditions. There are four games left, we have got to stick to what we do well and hopefully results come from there,” he said.

Conditions apply

England’s Ben Foakes feels the Indian wickets are among the hardest for wicketkeepers as they require frequent improvisation and a tough mind prepared to deal with things occasionally going wrong.

Foakes, who made a Test comeback after 11 months, effected the stumpings of a well-set Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj in the first Test. He also scored 34 in a crucial 112-run partnership with the star of the match Ollie Pope (196) that gave England the decisive lead.

“In conditions like this, it’s about trying to think on your feet and learn because it’s not natural conditions (for me),” the 30-year-old told a website.

“I’ve obviously kept away a lot and kept to spinners, but I find that Indian pitches, with the variable bounce, are up there with the hardest. The more extreme the conditions you know things are occasionally going to wrong so you just have to mentally strong enough to put it out of your mind,” he added.

The 30-year-old is bracing up for extreme conditions in the rest of the series as well.

“There is a good chance the next one is going to be a tough one. You’re in the game, so it’s nice as a keeper. It’s obviously a very hard place to keep, and you’re aware of that. You’re going to have some tough moments or a tough day. But you’d rather be in the game than watching the ball do nothing in front of you,” he added.

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