Brag Hogg criticized Joe Root for taking the over-aggressive route and going out on an attempted “slog” against off-spinner Nathan Lyon in the third-innings of the Ashes 2023 opening Test played in Edgbaston. Root opted for the ‘Bazball’ tactics and blasted his way through to 46, but was undone by a dipping off-break from Lyon, which ultimately hurt the English in their painstaking defeat.
Prior to his wicket, Root started the penultimate day’s play with a shocking reverse ramp on the very first ball against Pat Cummins. The cricketer missed it, and wore a sheepish look about it, only to bravely repeat the stroke in the very next over. This time finding a six and a four against Scott Boland.
The intention was clear: not to let the Australians dictate terms on what, with the overcast conditions and a dry, uneven surface, had shaped up to be a perfect bowling day. It helped Root enter his innings with gusto as he rallied his way to 46.
But Hogg pointed out that the modern-day gem’s dismissal thereafter denied him and England more runs, which he perhaps could’ve gotten by curbing the ‘Bazball’ effect on his headspace and playing the rest of the innings the traditional way.
“He’s playing a different style of cricket. The Bazball has come out we’re seeing reverse-sweeps which we’ve never seen in Test cricket before against fast bowling. That’s just sensational it’s never been heard of before,”
Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
“But with the Bazball in the second innings, I just thought he was over aggressive. The shot that he got out to Nathan Lyon was a slog. It was not a cricket shot and if he is playing T20 cricket, I would have been disappointed as the coach with that type of shot,”
he added.
Root got out trying to swipe one to the mid-wicket against Lyon, who was smart enough to slow the pace down and get the ball to dip on the aggressive right-hander as he missed it, with wicketkeeper Alex Carey easily completing the stumping. England ultimately finished with 273 all out and lost the defence of the 281-run target by 2 wickets.
