The England Cricket team is playing their first test series after the big disappointment they faced in India. West Indies is on a tour of England for a red ball series of 3 matches. Ex England pacer Steve Harmison shares his take on England vs West Indies and compares it to test matches in India.
The three red ball matches will be held on 10, 18 and 26 of July. The first Test match between England and West Indies has started at Lord’s. The hosts won the toss, opting to bowl first. Currently, the England team has a winning probability of 86% against the West Indies. West Indies scored 121 runs in 41.4 overs, losing all their wickets.
“India did not kill Bazball” says Steve Harmison
England’s popular “Bazball” approach had fallen short in the conditions of India. Team India quickly adapted to the conditions, winning the series 4-1.
Discussing the team’s aggressive play style and whether India ‘killed’ it during this year’s Test series, Harmison argued that Rohit Sharma’s team played ‘smarter’ than their opponents.
He emphasized that this doesn’t signify the end of Bazball. According to Harmison, India effectively utilized their home conditions to their advantage and were rewarded for it.
“I thought they (England) played excellent cricket in India. They gave India some real headaches. But then, all of a sudden, when you get to a point that you go, ‘oh no, they’ve done it again’.” He said.
“How many times you see a crash of wickets? That’s the problem, where you need to read a room. You can’t have everything in an ideal world. The way these red ball players play now, it’s far better than what it was in the previous regime,” Harmison added to talkSPORT cricket.
“I don’t think India killed Bazball. I think India played better cricket in their own backyard. They made smarter decisions under pressure. But I think there were definitely times during those five Test matches where England gave India a real headache. And not many teams have done that to India in India,” said the former England pacer further.
England opts to bowl first against West Indies
On Wednesday at Lord’s, James Anderson bowled on the first day of his 188th and final Test match after England won the toss and chose to field against the West Indies.
Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test cricket with 700 wickets, ranks as the third-highest wicket-taker in the format’s history, trailing only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).
As West Indies scored merely 121 runs, losing all their wickets in 41.4 overs, England started off confident. Ben Duckett and Zack Crawley mustered up a score of 30/1 in 7.4 overs.
Ben Duckett lost his wicket and got dismissed on a catch by Joshua Da Silva on Jayden Seales’ bowl. He only scored 3 runs in 13 bowls before getting dismissed.
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