Australia’s approach on the first day of the Ashes has been questioned (Picture: Getty)
Kevin Pietersen and Nasser Hussain accused Australia of making life ‘too easy’ for the England batters with defensive tactics on the first day of the Ashes.
On a breathless opening day at a raucous Edgbaston, England posted 393-8 thanks to Joe Root’s 30th Test century and fifties from Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley.
In an attempt to negate England’s aggressive batting which has become customary under Brendon McCullum, Australia opted to field sweepers from ball one, though even that did not prevent Crawley from smashing the first delivery from Australia captain Pat Cummins for four.
Boundary riders on either side of the wicket limited the boundary count in the morning session but also allowed England to rotate the strike at ease.
‘My first thought in the first session was that it was way too easy for the England players to get into the series,’ Pietersen told Sky Sports. ‘All the batters got in but they were allowed to get in.
‘I remember playing against Australia and they didn’t let you go anywhere near the ball after playing it, there were players all around you. It was a battlefield.
‘But I didn’t see that from Australia today. They might see the end result and think they are in the game but it just didn’t look right.’
Ex-England captain Hussain added: ‘Someone we’ve missed today is Shane Warne and there would have been a lot of pizza and chips thrown around the commentary box today.
‘He would have been exploding if he saw a sweeper out for the first ball of the Ashes.
‘I think for some players – like Crawley, who is a serial boundary hitter – it’s fair enough. But for players like Root, you can’t just give him the single because he will take it all day long. It doesn’t have to be the same field for everyone.’
England lost opener Ben Duckett in the fourth over but Crawley and Ollie Pope steadied the ship with a 70-run partnership, before the latter was trapped lbw by Nathan Lyon, who finished with four wickets.
Crawley struck six boundaries in his fluent half-century before being dismissed on the stroke of lunch by Scott Boland, who formed a pace attack alongside Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, with Mitchell Starc missing out.
More to follow…
‘It was way too easy for the England players.’