Nobody said it was irresponsible in New Zealand or when Joe Root played the reverse sweep. – Jeetan Patel defends the Bazball strategy of England

Former cricketers Michael Vaughan, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, and Kevin Pietersen have criticised England’s strategy in the five-match Ashes 2023 series due to the team’s inability to generate a result with the bat thus far. However, assistant coach Jeetan Patel is unwilling to listen to criticisms because, as he pointed out, the Bazball philosophy has given them success against every other nation they’ve played against, so they have no plans to alter their approach at this time.

Jeetan Patel also stated that no one ever referred to the team’s past performance as recklessness. He went on to defend Harry Brook’s dismissal by stating that Joe Root had previously achieved success with similar efforts. Thus, Patel supports his team and mentions that they intend to improve in the future.

“No one said it was irresponsible in New Zealand, and no one said it was reckless when Joe Root played the reverse sweep, so, as I previously stated, our players want to entertain. I believe Brooky’s only option was to accept that. That was the only opportunity he had to score four and possibly alter the game’s momentum. We are attempting to absorb pressure and implement it where possible. Patel stated at the conclusion of the day’s play, “Part of trying to apply that was to get them off that length, which is obviously difficult to score against.”

“Over the past year, we’ve observed that this is how this team operates; they want to get better, they want to push the limits, and they want to shatter more records. I believe part of this was having the courage to say, “All right, let’s see how far we can take it.” I believe that is the most essential factor,” he continued.

Notably, England are trailing by 221 runs after the third day of the Lord’s Test and must therefore revert to their absolute best in order to win. Day 4’s morning session will be crucial for the Ben Stokes-captained team because it could affect the outcome of the game.