“Very Entertaining”: Steve Smith Evaluates Bazball Ahead of Ashes 2023

A large amount of cricket fans all over the world can resonate with Steven Smith for he is also a fan of “Bazball“. One of cricket’s youngest terminologies, Bazball is simple defined as England’s Test era under head coach Brendon McCullum in spite of him not being a fan of the term. Former New Zealand captain has been conferred with such an innovative title primarily because of his innovative style of work inducing unrivaled results for England in the ancestral format.

Smith, who is in England representing Sussex in County Championship Division Two under India batter Cheteshwar Pujara, has become another high-profile cricketing personality after the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Nick Compton, Wasim Jaffer, Mohammad Kaif etc. to express his views on England’s attacking brand of cricket. While opinions shared by the aforementioned names have been contrasting in nature thus far, the concept has it in it to not allure monotone views.

Steve Smith Evaluates Bazball Ahead of Ashes 2023

In an interview published on the official website of ECB (England Cricket Board) this morning, Smith admitted that watching England play Test cricket in the last 12 months or so has been nothing short of “incredible” and “very entertaining”. That being said, the 33-year old player jokingly hoped for a sharp decline in the level of entertainment during Ashes 2023.

“From afar, as a cricket fan, it’s been quite incredible to watch. It’s been very entertaining, that’s for sure. So, hopefully, it’s not as entertaining as this summer from an England perspective. But yeah, look, I think the way they’ve gone about it and the way they’re taking the game on makes for a very exciting summer,” Smith told ECB.

Assuming that McCullum and England captain Ben Stokes are able to execute their plans to perfection during the imminent five-match series, retaining the Ashes could become a daunting task for Aussies. As for winning a Test series in England is concerned, Australia haven’t been able to do the same in over a couple of decades.

Steve Smith Ashes Record

Readers must note that one-third of Smith’s 96 Tests have come against England. Not surprisingly, the right-handed batter has performed better against England in away conditions as compared to home conditions.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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