Paul Collingwood, the assistant coach of the England cricket team, has issued a warning to Australia ahead of the Ashes 2023 series. He made it clear that England would not back down against the recently crowned World Test Champions.
Australia will enter the Ashes series on the back of their resounding victory in the World Test Championship, where they defeated India by 209 runs. As the first team to claim ICC trophies in all three formats, Australia will be looking to carry their confidence into the highly anticipated Ashes clash, starting at Edgbaston.
However, England is a different team compared to the under-prepared India side they faced in the WTC final. Over the past year, England has made significant strides in Test cricket, rewriting the definition of the format. This transformation has been dubbed “Bazball,” inspired by the nickname of their head coach, Brendon McCullum. While England doesn’t particularly endorse such terminology, they firmly believe in the character they have shown in reshaping Test cricket.
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India and New Zealand have experienced England’s resurgence in Test cricket, and now it’s Australia’s turn. Since the last Ashes series Down Under, there has been a seismic shift in the English dressing room, and in 2023, England won’t easily relinquish the urn.
On the other hand, Australia is eager to decipher the much-discussed “Bazball” style. After scoring a century against India in the WTC final, vice-captain Steve Smith expressed his curiosity about this new approach to red-ball cricket.
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“I’ve been intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. They’ve obviously done well against other attacks, but they haven’t faced us yet. So, we’ll see. It’s been exciting to watch, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the way they’ve played and turned things around in the last 12 months. We’ll wait and see how it goes against us,” said Smith during the WTC Final.
Australia, fueled by their confidence, will undoubtedly come at their arch-rivals with great intensity, given England’s recent success with their new style of play. However, assistant coach Paul Collingwood has a different perspective.
In response to a question during a media interaction, Collingwood stated that England would maintain their approach and not let up in intensity just because they were facing Australia.
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“We’ll approach it in a similar manner to what we’ve been doing in recent years. It’s not just because it’s the Ashes that we’ll change our approach. The players have had fun playing this way, enjoying each other’s company both on and off the field. It’s about removing the pressure from the players and playing as a group of friends, best friends, really, enjoying each other’s company.
“If you have that mentality and take the value and skills you bring to training into the match, with no consequences, then you can maximize your abilities. There’s no way they’ll take their foot off the pedal just because it’s against Australia. In fact, I know these guys, they’ll probably try to go even harder!” Collingwood emphasized.
While playing as a bunch of best friends can create epic rivalries, Collingwood’s words were accompanied by a chuckle. However, when it comes to the game itself, the new-look England side knows how to respond. They demonstrated this smartly against India when Virat Kohli tried to get under Jonny Bairstow’s skin at Old Trafford last year.